08.08.2020

Ichigo was at loss, he didn't know what to do. Not the first time, he thought. Since Soul Reapers came to his village, he wasn't really sure he was doing a right thing.

"Can I talk to father? I mean, Thomas, that Quincy you've captured." Ichigo asked Unohana. She was looking at him with an expression he couldn't really read.

"I do not think that is the best, you lost conciousness not too long ago. I would advise you that you rest." Ichigo frowned a bit. That wasn't something he wanted to do after sleeping so long. He wasn't the type to just lay still.

"B-But I don't want to sleep." She smiled at him.

"I still advise resting, we have a few medicines that can help you with that." Ichigo felt shiver run near his spine when she closed her eyes and couldn't help but shudder.

"Y-yes, I think I'll get some sleep..." After she left, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Damn, she's so scary..."

Ichigo looked around for a moment, he didn't notice any difference from the room previous hospital room. He laid down on the soft cushions, let out a sigh and closed his eyes feeling his mind drifting off to certain memories.

"Why Quincies hate Soul Reapers, dad?" Ichigo asked his father a long while ago. Ichigo was slowly swinging on a small swing which was behind his house. It was a sunny day but they knew the colder days were approaching them sooner than they expected. But it was still warm...

His father, Thomas, let go of his handkerchief, letting it fall on the small wooden table. It was a tradition that family ate there on important occasions.

"We don't hate them." He started wisely. "We're too intelligent to feel anger, it's too pointless to live with such a wasteful emotion." Thomas sat down in front of Ichigo and looked at his child. "..." He sighed. "Soul Reapers let Hollows go, no matter what they did, no matter how many souls they'd killed before. Quincies destroy their souls for good. That's all."

Ichigo stopped swinging and looked at the ground. He thought for a moment, frowning at his father.

"Can't we just... Help each other?" Ichigo finally asked.

Of course, Thomas knew how young children were naive and didn't know the truth so he didn't answer or commented how stupid it was. If it was that simple to do...

"When I'm older, I'd try to make it happen, so no one can suffer again." Ichigo said with a determination in his eyes. Thomas turned around and rolled his eyes on that. He couldn't ignore that.

"Soul Reapers and Quincies will never work together. It's like fire and water."

"But what about..." He thought for a moment to find a good example.

"Better focus on the present, with this attitude you might not survive to that moment." Thomas had never thought that this moment would ever come.

Ichigo was crying because of his family again. For the most of his life, he felt like he could do nothing good.

Ichigo was supposed to do simple things: feed horses, clean the barn and help his mother if she needed anything. First two tasks went smoothly: animals loved him and they showed it as much as they could. When he went to the kitchen however, his mother wasn't as pleasant. She yelled at him with no particular reason in her mind and then told him to go grab something from their neighbours.

As an eleven year old boy, he wasn't too confident with other people.

"What do you want?" Their neighbour asked with narrowed eyes.

"M-mother said you've got something for her." She closed the door harshly and for a moment, Ichigo didn't know what to do. "Take it and go." She threw a small box at his chest and closed the door again.

Ichigo, not having many other things to do, went back home.

"So? She gave you my package?" With no other word, she took it away from him. Young man, knowing better, said nothing and went to him room.

It had light pink coloured walls, a small crib on the left side of the room, long chest on the right.

Ichigo never asked why it was pink.

He slowly sat down on his bed which was under a window, if you even could call it a bed. It was just one single mattress with a thin blanket on it. Ichigo was still grateful he had something to sleep on.

He closed his eyes while laying on in. It felt like he had forgotten something important, someone special... His trail of thoughts was stopped when his door was opened wide.

His father was angry.

"What did you do this time?" His wife was staring at Ichigo with a small smile. "Anything to say?" He didn't make any sound, just sat on his bed and looked at them.

"Give back what you've stolen." His mother said. "I know you took it."

"What do you mean?" He quietly asked, knowing to not say things too loud.

His mother hated loud people.

"You've stolen my necklace that Marie's husband made me." She said with her head high up.

"I just grabbed what she gave me and-."

"Liar!" She slapped him across his face. It burned. "How dare you lie in my face? I've raised you, I gave you a home and you-!"

And that went on and on for a long time. Ichigo was really upset but couldn't blame her.

It was oblivious she didn't want him to be her child.

Maybe Ichigo haven't asked about the crib but he wasn't stupid. He knew that her child was no longer around and he was making her suffer.

And that was a reason he couldn't hate her.

After a short while, he felt wetness on his cheeks. He just wanted to feel save in home, feel loved...

Being a fifteen years old young man with no friends was just... Sad.

He kicked small rock and watched it as it join other rocks. He was walking down the street, his family mad at him again. This time it was about being too late at the 'family meeting' where he was just sitting and the others were enjoying their time together. They were talking about how Soul Reapers were disgusting.

They weren't happy with his opinion.

So he went for a little walk, nothing special about it. It was winter, he felt chill going down his spine. Yeah, if was a little bit too cold weather to wear nothing but a thin t-shirt, blouse with sweatpants.

"-child..." He stopped and looked around, he was alone near the forest. "-hear my voice..."

"Who's there?" Ichigo asked feeling a bit of fear. "Show yourself."

The voice laughed.

"Come... Closer..." It said. "Show me..." Instead of going closer, Ichigo took a step back. "Come..." Ichigo quickly turned around and ran for his life.

Thinking about past always made Ichigo calm down, no matter what situation was he in. He knew if he survived the past, he would survive the future. He felt his body was still sore but his mind was a little bit more refreshed. He moved his pillow up so he could comfortably sit for a while.

He wanted to leave the room but it quickly turned out that the door was locked. He thought that it was weird but after thinking more about it, he was glad it was locked. That meant nobody had came while he was sleeping.

He felt like it was a time before the storm. Yhwach and Wanderreich were preparing for the first and probably last battle.

Thinking about the vision that part of his soul showed him, he decided it was time to sort things out in his head.

"Why have you showed me that?" He asked the older voice.

"I have to keep you save and to do that, you have to understand the danger you are in."

"I just want to be happy, no matter with who."

"They do not want to give you joy." Voice echoed in his head while he was staring at the ceiling. "They want to hurt you, use you and then throw you away."

"And Yhwach? He doesn't have a better plan, he wants me dead."

"Then go to Hueco Mundo, tsk." Another voice interrupted them. "Hollows at least are predictible, they want everyone dead." Ichigo huffed.

"That's so much better."

"Better than crying in the corner, idiot."

"I guess I'll have to make a decision soon..." Ichigo said aloud and looked through the window.

"I wish I could know what is right..."