Moons: Big shout-out to my friend Rachel here. Reason? She doesn't even like Naruto, barely knows anything about it, but loves this story. She checked it out and emailed me later begging me to finish this chapter. Rachel, you rule!
Everyone, I hope this chapter makes up for the shortness of the last one.
Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
~ Alfred Pennyworth, The Dark Knight
On the very dawn that Sora had become a Jashinist after making his vows, Brom had to leave. Eight-year-old Sora held on to the grown-up's leg. "Please don't go!" He begged, "Please, please, pleeease! Not 'til I know everything about Jashin!"
Brom sighed. Sora was refusing to let go of his leg, even when he started walking. The shinobi currently residing in the country had recovered the dead bodies much quicker than he had predicted. Before the sun had risen, they were on the killers trail.
Brom didn't want to leave any more than Sora wanted him too. Yet being older and wiser, he knew had no choice. Staying here would just lead to his capture. Taking Sora along was out of the question. It would be much harder to remain incognito with an eight-year-old. It also would make him a kidnapper in the law's eyes. No one had any reason to suspect Sora of the events that went on that night, so as long as he didn't lose it he would be safest at home.
He took Sora to his house, "Get to bed, before your brother wakes up." Sora protested, "Can't I leave with you!? I'm old enough!"
Brom didn't agree. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a dagger. Just an average sized blade attached to a black handle, but plenty a threat to a child. Brom covered Sora's mouth to prevent screaming, and pressed the knife to the kid's throat.
"I'll cut it if you don't told as your told." He warned, "Now I'm gonna let yah go, but don't scream and wake Ichigo. Just get into bed."
Scared stiff, Sora backed away as soon as Brom released him and dived under his covers. Brom walked up and stuck the dagger into the floor next to him. "I'll be back." He promised. "I'll teach yah." And he left.
Sora's first kill as a Jashinist began only a matter of hours after Brom left.
Sora pretended to wake up normally in the morning. In reality, he hadn't slept at all. Before anything, he grabbed the dagger Brom had left him, examined it, and hid it in the front pocket of his brown pants. He searched around and found a medical kit in a drawer. He opened it and hastily wrapped bandages around his new scars. He groaned as they kept trying to open and bleed. Blood that did manage to spill in the process was quickly wiped up.
Ichigo yawned and stretched in the room next door. Sora gasped and stuffed the remaining supplies into the kit, stuffing the thing away in it's place. Anything that wasn't already covered by his clothes was now under a white wrapping of bandages. It was thick enough so the red color didn't bleed through.
The older brother entered the room as Sora was touching up the ends of the bandages, trying to make them stay down. "Sora!?"
Sora jumped. He turned a pale red as he looked at Ichigo, staring at him jaw dropped. A couple seconds of silenced passed. Then,
"Ichigo onii-san! I-i- er.... I'm not hurt, I-" His babbling stopped when he realized Ichigo was smirking. The smirking soon grew to laughter.
"Hahaha!" Ichigo laughed, "Oh...haha, oh man. I know you're not hurt, baka. How can you hurt yourself? The only thing that can cut you are the kitchen knifes and you can't even reach them." He laughed a little more and said, "It's just, with all those bandages you look... haha... you look so cute."
Sora looked far more angry than guilty now. "What do you mean 'cute'!?" He yelled. Ichigo snickered a little more before answering, "You're playing shinobi, right?"
"Playing shinobi?"
"Yeah," Oblivious Ichigo said, "You've seen them in town before. They sometimes wear bandages like that on their arms. Probably to hide scars or something."
'Idiot!' Sora smiled, "Yeah, I noticed. I was just worried you wouldn't." He took a superhero pose. "I'm a shinobi!" He cried out, causing Ichigo to laugh again and him to sweatdrop.
"Alright, I have work." Ichigo said when he regained control of himself. "Let's eat, then get going."
Sora couldn't focus during Ichigo's full time shift. Disparate for a place to rest, he got behind the counter and crawled over to the deepest, darkest corner. He leaned against a wall between a stash of wine that was frozen shut and thawing and the door to the quarters of Ichigo's boss. Slowly, his eyes closed and gave him the sweet comfort of sleep.
Ichigo's boss was a gruff man with a gray beard, aging into his sixties. He opened the door and looked around at the people crowding into his tavern for lunch with a smile on his face. Business was good today. He took a step forward and nearly jumped when he accidentally kicked something. Or rather, someone.
The old man's eyes softened at the sight of the sleeping child. Despite his mean appearance and grouchy attitude, he loved children. Ichigo's little brother, Sora, was a fond favorite of his- partly because he was one of the few children he knew. 'He looks so cute... Poor thing also looks exhausted. Wait, are those bandages!?'
The boss leaned down for a closer look, careful not to wake Sora. He cautiously touched the edge of a bandage that was coming loose on his palm and unraveled it a bit. A cut was reviled. The man gasped at the sight of it. It was small, but looked like it ran all the way up his arm. The man's eyes narrowed and his face turned hard.
He stood up and looked over at his employee across the room. When Ichigo went behind the counter, the boss tapped his shoulder and said, "Wrap up your work. I want you in my office before your lunch break." Ichigo replied with a quick nod and his boss stormed back into his room.
"You're fired." Ichigo's jaw dropped. "Wait, what!? What'd I do!?"
"Check out your brother." The boss replied, "I'm sure you'll know then.... Such irresponsibility."
Ichigo was confused for the next few seconds. Then, "Is this about his bandages? Dude, that's just-"
"Just what!?" "...just a game...." Ichigo replied weakly.
"A GAME!?" The man exploded. Ichigo couldn't defend himself anymore over his boss's ranting and cussing and yelling. He stood still in fear as the angry man in front of him continued to shout. The only thing he could think was, 'Thank god the door's closed shut.'
A few minutes later, the young adult left the room. He no longer had a job. This job was all that was supporting him and Sora and now it was gone. He found Sora half asleep beside the door, not looking as though he had heard any of that. "Com'on Sora." He said, lifting him up by his hand. "Lunch time sleepyhead."
Sora trailed behind him, holding on to his hand. Some ways down the street he asked, "What was up at work today, onii-san?"
Ichigo put his biggest smile on his face. "Work? Work was great! Boss gave me the rest of the day off!" Sora's eyes stayed on the ground and didn't move. Ichigo continued anyway.
"Yeah, we can hang out the whole day! Tomorrow too, maybe! We can go into town, see the shops, play around!" Ichigo kept his joyous face slapped on as they headed home for lunch. Sora didn't even look at it.
"You're lying." He muttered under his breath as he started kicking a pebble in his path. Ichigo ether didn't hear or ignored him. The smile on his face grew sad.
The tavern owner woke at about one in the morning. "Bathroom." He said aloud to no one. He stumbled out of his bed and made his way to the door, picking up a lit lantern on his way out. He slammed the door behind him. Living alone meant no need to be quiet.
On his way down the hall, he stopped when he saw something move. He blinked and whatever it was disappeared. He shook his head and scolded himself, "You're jumping at shadows. Get a hold of yourself, old timer."
He took a few more steps and the 'shadow' appeared again. The man moved closer and it took the form a child. He held up the lantern and recognized the figure. "Sora-kun?! Is that you? What the hell are you doing here!?" The boy's hands were behind his back, his face emotionless.
Sora looked down at the floorboards. "I want to know why you fired Ichigo." He said, looking innocent enough.
"He didn't tell you?"
"He's trying to act like he still has a job. I won't dare ask him and let him know that I know."
The old man sighed, "Crap... I'm sorry, Sora-kun. I knew that job was important to you two, but I saw you were injured-"
"Injured?" Sora repeated, a small amount of shock in his voice. "What made you think I was injured?"
"Your bandages. I lifted the end a little when you were napping today. I saw your cut. If Ichigo can't take care of you, he can't expect to keep his job. People who make mistakes can't keep jobs." The man explained.
"Oh..." Sora said. A small smile came on his face as he understood what he had to do. He reviled his hands. In his right hand was the dagger with the black handle. The man became frozen. "S-sora-k-"
"I injured myself and made sure that Ichigo didn't know. I cut myself!" Sora raised his voice. "Then I covered myself with bandages, and Ichigo believes I've been playing shinobi!" His eyes grew cold as he stared up at the older man and yelled. "You made a mistake. I made sure Ichigo-onii-san had nothing to with it. You made a mistake!"
"L-listen Sora!" His victim stuttered. "I-I see- you- you have problems, Sora! But- but violence is never the answer! Y-you have to talk this out, r-right!? Just p-put down the knife an-"
"No!" Sora yelled, "You- you made a mistake! People who make mistakes can't keep jobs!" He raised the knife. The man pleaded, trying to offer the brother's job back, but all that came out was whimpers. "Sometimes people who make mistakes lose more than jobs!"
Dagger clutched in his fist, he flung it into the man.
Sora stabbed the corpse over and over again. Even in death, it just kept bleeding onto the floor. 'Okay...I can stop... he's dead for sure now...'
He ripped the dagger out of the corpse for the final time. He was gasping for breath, the event had gone so fast. The floor around the multiply-stabbed dead man was covered in blood. It gushed out of the chest and coated Sora's hands as well as the dagger. The stuff ran partly up his arms and had splashed onto his knees, red shirt, and even a little on his face. Sora's hands dropped the dagger and moved down to the floor.
A groan of pain escaped his throat. His right hand had landed on a piece of glass that was once part of the lantern that a dead man carried. It got stuck in his palm. He quickly tore it out. This resulted in more blood spilling and tears of pain piercing Sora's eyes. He bit down on his tongue and wiped them away.
The smile came back on his face. He did it. He got his revenge. He had killed again! The smile opened and became a loud, happy laugh. "Haha.... I did it!! Haha!" His celebration was short-lived. "Pray..." He reminded himself. "Gotta pray." He scanned the room looking for something.
He took the dagger again and cut out a loose floorboard. The wood was cut easily buy the sharp blade. It wasn't even half a foot; he didn't need that much. He began to carve into it. The blade was so sharp compared to the weak material, it went straight through. Sora quickly formed a new plan. He began a rushed attempt to cut the wood some more.
In the end he had a roughly done wooden symbol in his hands. Jashin's circle. It was sloppy, but completed. He clasped back onto the wall and prayed.
The water started running. Sora watched as the mixture of blood and water flowed down the drain. He carefully made sure that the blood got off his arms. His bandages were off and some of the blood came from his opening cuts. He didn't complain, even though he wanted to.
Sora turned the water off. He opened the medical kit next to him and took out mess of bandages. This time, he made sure that they reached all the way from his palms to his shoulders even though his sleeves would cover them. He crammed the few remains of the bandages back into the kit and stored it away. He pulled a clean shirt on and climbed into his bed.
"Oi, Sora?" Ichigo shook his brother. "You up?"
A small groan came from under the covers. "Ichigo... I just want to sleep."
"But-"
"Just let me sleep. I'm tired. Really tired. You can go ahead and go where ever. I'll be fine."
Ichigo didn't like the idea, but "Fine. I'll be back soon, an hour tops. Be safe while I'm gone." He left the small house and locked the door behind him. He could run to a few stores and see what jobs were available. On the bright side, the new job couldn't be much worse than the tavern he was fired from. As he walked down the road, he spotted the tavern with the 'closed' sign at the entrance. 'That's odd. It should have been open an hour ago.'
Many more murders were committed by Sora over time. All of them done in the same way: stabbed by a small blade. Ichigo was a suspect with knowledge that he hated or had something against many of the victims as well as some forensic evidence against him. Yet proof was found that it was impossible fore him to commit some of the killings, so the authorities assumed he might have been framed. For the time being, his name was cleared.
Of course, no one even suspected Sora was the one behind it all. No one ever considers a child committing homicide. He got away with every one for a long time.
Afraid of this new, unstoppable serial killer many people including Ichigo and Sora moved closer to the capital city where shinobi gathered and there were temples for the god. As these people grew more sad and scared Ichigo noticed Sora was doing the opposite. He was becoming happier. Ichigo wanted to believe that Sora was just young and happy to be free of the tavern. Recently, Sora started working odd jobs like a D-rank shinobi to help support them. He was making a good amount of cash from it- more than Ichigo had made at his previous job. Ichigo didn't have time to worry about Sora. He was too busy looking for a job for himself. During that time, Sora grew up.
Setting: 2 1/2 years before Shippuden; Ishi no Kuni's capital city
Sora returned home late, as usual.
"You know I don't like it when you come back at this hour."Ichigo told him, "Yah know, with it dark out and all."
"I know." Sora replied.
Ichigo hadn't changed much. His hair was the same and his face had only aged a bit. His shirt had been replaced with a more comfortable brown sweater.
Sora on the other hand had changed a lot. He grew to be only a few heads shorter than the adults. His face had aged to that of a twelve-year-old's and his hair had grown out. It was now pulled back into a ponytail, but remained spiky in the front. As for his clothes, his pants were still a bit too big and required a belt to hold them up. His old shirt had been replaced with a white T-shirt and red jacket. All and all, he was actually kind of cute.
He had even been asked out by a friendly girl, but turned her down due to the fact that he had sworn off romance when he became a Jashinist. To free her of her sorrow of rejection, he killed her like many others. Not the best way to rid one of sorrow, but it worked for Sora. Besides, she might be happier somewhere else.
Might be...
"Any luck finding work, Ichigo-onii-san?" Ichigo hung his head in disappointment. "I see..." Sora said.
"I'm starting to think that other people assume I'm a drunk just because I used to work in a tavern 4 years ago." Ichigo said.
"While we're on the topic of work, I may be out late tomorrow. Again."
"Of course. No surprise there."
Sora was always out late. Ask ether brother and he'll say he was doing his odd jobs which took a long time to wrap up and were far away from home. Then he'll come home, have a quick bite to eat with Ichigo, then go to his room. There, unknown to Ichigo, he would take out a wooden treasure of his: a pendent. It was rough and in poor quality, but still with him after all the years.
The next evening Ichigo found himself far from home because of a job interview. 'For once,' He thought, 'I'll be the one home late." He wondered how Sora would react to that. To his surprise he spotted Sora a distance away. They were the only ones on the street or nearby except for an elderly woman walking Sora's way.
Sora didn't noticed Ichigo, who decided to sneak up and shock him. Sora came up to the lady with a kind smile and friendly greeting. They exchanged a few words. then Sora pointed into a nearby alley. Ichigo was hidden close enough to catch a few words.
"-og ran...-ley. You...-et 'im back?"
The old woman smiled and nodded. She followed him into the alley.
'What the hell?!' Ichigo thought, 'Why are they going in there?'
He heard the woman scream! He ran to the entrance of the alley. Sora had his back to him. He was pulling a dagger from the corpse's chest.
Ichigo's breath stopped. He hid behind the wall, heart pounding. He regained enough self control to look around the corner and into the alley again. He saw Sora leaning back against the wall. His eyes were closed and he looked as though he was praying. By his side was a purse emptied of it's contents. He held something wooden in his hand. Ichigo quietly leaned forward for a better look. It was a triangle inside a circle.
Sora took a deep breath and Ichigo panicked. He sneaked away from his sibling and broke off running. He ran straight to the temple where the shinobi gathered and worked.
An old, balding monk listened as Ichigo retold his story. "Normally this would be considered an A-rank, I guess." Ichigo said when he finished, "I only have the money for a B-rank, but I'm begging you. I'm worried about Sora. I- I think he might be the serial killer."
The monk put on a smile. "Relax child. We aren't greedy. We aren't even sure that Sora-kun is the serial killer, so it's a high C-rank mission for his arrest and interrogation. I'll find a four-man squad and they'll go to your home."
Sora was home alone. He shrugged off the fact that Ichigo was gone and tucked the money he had taken into a safe place. He didn't see keeping it as wrong, considering that he needed the money more than a corpse. It was the real source of about half his money.
He prepared a can of instant ramen and slurped not bothering to use a bowl.
There was a loud knock at the door. "Come in." He said as he slurped the noodles into his mouth.
"We may have a problem." The monk continued. He pulled out a book and flipped it open. The pages were filled with religious symbols. "You mentioned that before you ran off he was praying, yes?"
Ichigo nodded. "He was holding an object. It looked something like this." He took a pen and notepad from the desk and and drew a triangle with a circle around it. He turned the paper around and showed it to the elder.
He gasped. "Th-this- this is..." He breathed in slowly. "The triangle. You drew it upside down inside a circle!" He flipped through the pages as he babbled.
"Er... it could have been right side up."
"Doesn't matter. It's been told ether way." He pointed on the page to what he was looking for. In bold black writing was a name: Jashin. "He worships an evil god!"
Sora landed on the round in a thud. "What the fuck!? Why am I here!?"
Ichigo looked down at his little brother.
"Ichigo! These people came and arrested me! You got to tell-"
"I've already told them." Ichigo said said sternly. "I've told them everything I saw."
Sora was silent, his jaw dropped. He pulled it up and moved his eyes to the floor. "You saw me kill that old hag, didn't yah?"
A fist pounded on the table with anger. Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut as though holding back tears. "You.... you.... Why the hell did you do it Sora!?"
"Why the hell did you rat me out!?" Sora shouted, "I've killed a lot of people-mostly people you hated- for my deity and..." He trailed off. 'I thought you'd at least accept it. You may be a perverted baka, but you're still my brother. You're the only family I know. The only family I've ever known.'
"We'll take that as a confession." One of the shinobi said, "You're under arrest for-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Sora yelled at him, "I know I'm the serial killer! I've been committing murder for years now. So what are you assholes going to do with me!? Huh!?"
The four shinobi in the room grabbed Sora by force and handcuffed him. To their surprise, Sora snickered when they restrained him. His eyes grew wild and he began to laugh.
"Haha! You sucker think you're so good! You think you can restrain me!? Jashin-sama will help me! He'll get me to freedom! And I'll come back! And I'll kill all of you! Hahahaha!"
His suddenly bloodshot eyes shot to Ichigo. A huge grin was slapped across his face. It was the strangest mixture of pure joy and deep hatred.
The shinobi pulled him away leading him out of the room. Ichigo's throat was dry. He seriously thought he was going to break down and cry.
The old monk next to him read his mind. "You can do it. It's alright."
And Ichigo cried on the table. Not like a shinobi's honorable cry, standing in salute for a funeral. He cried like a baby.
That night was Sora's first experience with insanity.
Moons: Holy -beep- on a -beep- sandwich with -beep- on top! This is one of the longest pieces of crap I have written yet. Eh, whatever.
Liked it? Thought it was crud? Too many cuss words? Fanfiction writers like to know this stuff!
Review and get a soda pop!
