Souichiro opened the door and eyes went wide at what the four of them saw. Rei was standing, anger in her eyes, the tip of her bayonet at Shido's throat.
"... the man who wasn't phased by anything in his life apologised to me in tears. He told me I had to repeat the grade because of him but I knew you were the only one who could control the teachers' grades!" She growled at him. "But I held my temper. Because he told me that he would be able to arrest you and your father if his investigation went smoothly." She told him with narrowed eyes, the tip of the blade pointing into his neck, a small trickle of blood running down his neck. "But now. You pay." Shido's eyes were wide as she stared down at what was once one of his students, now holding a gun to him.
"W-What? Are you going to commit murder? You're a policeman's daughter for god's sake. You don't want to become a criminal do you?" Shido cried out in hope he could reason with her.
"I don't want to hear that from you!" She screamed at him.
"Then you should kill him." Souichiro said making all heads whip to the large intimidating man. "Once I had an association with this man's father, but now." He said glaring at the man in the suit. "That means nothing. If you wish. Kill him." He told her. Takashi tried to rush forward but Saeko stopped him.
"Saeko get out of the way." Takashi shouted at the sword user.
"She has to do this herself." Saeko told him. "It's her decision to make." Takashi stopped and stared at Rei over Saeko's shoulder. All eyes were on Shido and Rei, the gun blade never leaving his throat as Rei glared up at him.
"Go ahead and kill me! I welcome it! Just know when you do you will be haunted by this violent act of vengeance for as long as you live, and having you learn that will be the best lesson I could have taught you as your teacher. Do not fail this test." He told her, spreading his arms out wide simply accepting whatever fate Rei would give him as he continued to stare into her hard eyes behind his glasses.
There was silence for a good while between everyone, the tension only building as Rei didn't lower her weapon. When she finally started to lower her gun, breaths of relief were let out by almost everyone. She turned and walked towards the door where Souichiro was standing.
"Are you certain this is your decision?" Souichiro questioned as Rei stopped beside him. Ichigo's eyes glanced to Rei then to Shido and then to the students who were standing beneath a shelter not far from them and he narrowed his eyes slightly. They radiated nothing but fear.
"He's not even worth killing." Rei said glancing over her shoulder at the man shaking in fear, his breathing heavy and visible in the rain. Her eyes shot wide open as a gunshot was heard and her whole body shook in shock as she watched Shido's head fly back before his lifeless dead body fell to the ground, with a splat in the puddle beneath him from the rain.
"ICHIGO!" Shouts surrounded and Rei turned back to Ichigo who was lowering his gun, his eyes narrowed.
"I beg to differ on that." Ichigo said looking Rei in the eye, before turning to Souichiro who simply nodded his head and held a hand up to gesture for him to enter the house. Ichigo simply walked in, placing the gun in the back of his pants once more and entered the house.
"Get those students out of the rain!" Souichiro ordered his men. "Get them cleaned up and taken care of. Who knows what that bastard put them through." That was the first time any of Ichigo's group looked towards the students that had arrived with Shido and they saw exactly what Ichigo saw, complete fear in not only their eyes but their expressions and even their stances. Shido must have put them through hell, there wasn't even as many as there were back on the bus when they had stepped off to follow their so called saviour. "And get this mess cleaned up!" He ordered once more walking into the house after Ichigo.
"Rei are you alright?" Takashi asked walking up to her as she stared at the dead body of the man who had ruined her family.
"Yeah." She said shakily. "I... just need some time to myself." She told him and he nodded his head as he watched her walk inside.
"I'll check on her." Saya said and Takashi nodded his head in thanks as the pink haired girl walked in after Rei. Ishida sighed and pushed his glasses up as he watched the would be soldiers pick up Shido's body and pull him away while another two started to clean the mess up that the blood had left behind. He saw Tatsuki's face and turned to her.
"I don't know if that was the right thing to do." Ishida told her.
"He shouldn't have done it, killing is still killing. But it's done now." Tatsuki sighed. "I just hope those guys are alright." She said looking at the students being led out of the rain and into a part of the house. "It looks like they've been put through hell."
"We're lucky to have made it here with what we dealt with compared to them." Saeko sighed. "We should speak with them, they might be reluctant to tell us at first but it will be good. We're from the same school after all and we did start off in this mess together, so to speak."
"Agreed." Chad nodded his head.
"What you did out there was a questionable thing young man." Souichiro said as they walked back into his office. "However I must ask as to why you did what you did?" Ichigo sat down in the chair as Souichiro sat down on his own across the desk. His fingers lacing in front of his face as he stared towards Ichigo.
"Honestly?" Ichigo asked and Souichiro nodded his head, wanting to know the truth. "Everything about him... was just wrong, the look in his eyes, his stance, the way he talks, his actions." Ichigo shook his head.
"Actions?" Souichiro asked him. "You knew that man?"
"He was a teacher at the school." Ichigo told him. "He actually escaped with us, however..."
"Circumstances permitted that you go your separate ways?" Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "I knew that man's father, everything you described to me I felt the same whenever I was in the same presence of that man. If he had been there instead of his son, I would have killed him as well."
"The way those other students looked..." Ichigo continued, his eyes filling with confusion as he began to try and explain what he saw. "It wasn't natural it was like they had completely changed personalities. When they were with us, they weren't openly scared like that. No matter how much they were, they never showed it. They radiated fear down there. It wasn't natural." Ichigo sighed leaning back in his chair and looking towards the ceiling before sighing in irritation. "I don't know how to explain it. It just wasn't right, and I knew somehow that man was responsible for it."
"My company and myself will be leaving early tomorrow morning." Souichiro told him. "You have the room for them, the students will remain with you." He said, his tone meant no discussion... however he was dealing with Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Say what!?" Ichigo yelled his eyes snapping to the large man's. "I figured you'd have doctors! Therapists! What's them staying with us going to achieve! They need help!" He roared slamming his hands on the desk and pushing himself up from the chair. "We don't have the resources they need to get better!"
"Our doctors will be healing our wounded, we have no therapists and dragging them through the mess out in the city will do them more harm than good. They stay." Ichigo groaned and massaged his temples before dragging his hands down his face.
"Fine." He growled out slumping back in his chair. "However, I don't see how they're going to fair here better than anywhere else." He sighed in irritation once more. Souichiro smiled and held his hand out to Ichigo.
"I hope, after this entire mess has finished, the dead are back in the ground where they belong, I can see this house standing and see that my daughter has been protected. I leave that to you Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo smirked and shook the large man's hand.
"Just be sure to make it back to see your daughter." Souichiro laughed and nodded his head. Ichigo rose and headed for the door.
"It's going to get a lot harder from here kid."
"I know." With that Ichigo left the room.
Shizuka closed the door behind Chad, the both of them had helped the men under Souichiro bring the students up into a room that would be fit for them. They had both seen what Ichigo had done and was just glad that Alice, Orihime and Karin hadn't been there to see him kill the man. It would have made them ask questions, and for them to question why Ichigo had done what he did. Sure everyone else there was questioning what he did, but they had the right sense of mind to not voice their thoughts.
"I don't think that it would be good for them to leave in the state that they are in." Chad said softly remembering how fearful they had been when he had approached. They had cowered away from the large teen.
"I'd have to agree with you." Shizuka said walking over to the railing and looking down to see several men carrying boxes out of the house. "Their mental state is low, I probably don't even want to guess how much they've eaten in the last few days. They looked at us with so much suspicion, as if they didn't even remember who we are." Chad nodded in agreement. "I, as a doctor can't let them leave."
"Do you want me to talk to Ichigo about it? Letting them stay that is?" Chad questioned her.
"No need." Both turned to look down the hall to see Ichigo walking up to them. "They're staying. It's already been decided." He told them.
"That's a relief." Shizuka smiled at him. "I don't think they would survive very long out there in the state that they're in now. I'm amazed that they have made it this far with how they are. It's almost a miracle."
"It was fear." Chad said softly. "It can push a person to its limits."
"But now that which has caused them fear has gone." Ichigo said his gaze lowering.
"They need to regain what they once were. I remember one of the girls, she used to be so energetic." Shizuka said. "Sure she wasn't a very nice person to some of the students, or to people who didn't like some of the idea's she made up, but she was still a nice person at heart. She just didn't know how to express herself at all." She continued. "But, she didn't deserve this."
"None of them did." Ichigo agreed with her. "Souichiro and the others will be leaving early tomorrow morning. They have left us some supplies but not a lot, we will have to go on a run soon. Shizuka, you know the town pretty well don't you?" He asked.
"Yes." She beamed. "What do you need?"
"Well firstly, food. Where would the closest convenience store be?" He asked.
"Hmm... I'm not too familiar with the area, but I do know of a large shopping shopping complex that's close by." She told him. "Not only would they have food, but clothes, and probably anything you could think of." Ichigo rose his hand to his mouth in thought. The shopping centre would be an ideal place to get supplies, but then again there would be people thinking the same thing, however...
"Good idea Shizuka." Ichigo smiled. "Let's try and keep everyone from stuffing their faces." He chuckled lightly. "I'd rather not have to go on run's daily."
"Agreed." Chad chuckled. "If anything we should try and start to grow our own food. Maybe go for a trip into the country and find livestock."
"That's not a bad idea Chad." Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "Shizuka, do you mind looking after the students that came with Shido? They will probably want to see a familiar face more often than not."
"Alright, I can do that." Shizuka told him with a smile, Ichigo nodded his head and began to walk down the corridor once more, Chad and Shizuka watching as he left, frowns on their faces as they saw how hard he was trying to remain calm after just killing a man in cold blood.