I know some of you may have noticed it already, but… There were SO hellish many typos including some missing words at the previous chapter! I realized it when looking back at it. Uuh, so with this chapter published, I've also edited chapter 2 so you might enjoy it to the fullest for anyone who haven't read it (feel free to re-read it if you want, tho :P) Oh, and for QT Pie and terserah-lo-mau-manggil-gw-apa (nice pen-name by the way ;D) of course I will explain how Hichigo become and ended up as Ichi's Hollow/Ichi's mind. But it will be in latter chapters xD Curious? Well stay tuned and enjoy chapter 3 ahead!
Summary: The vision in front of him, was it just a trap from the white boy or his mind speaks the truth? Now, how can he tell apart between reality and dream?
Btw, should I change the rating to T? Please answer it in the review button beneath. I really need your help! D: Since I don't want this story to get deleted… (I don't know about you readers, but…)
Disclaimer: Bleach is still not mine, or else I'd make Hollow Ichi as the main character, lulz. Yaa, I love to make the antagonist to become the protagonist lol. *take a glance to Light from DN*
"Wh-who are you!?" Ichigo shouted with a quaver in his one, looking at the white-tanned boy who stood in front of him with a white Zangetsu in hand, pointing its sharp point to the terrified redhead's neck.
"Hm…?" the white boy raised an eyebrow after hearing Ichigo's question, the once-a-grin lips turned down, giving a confused look.
"Are ya… possibly don' remember me, King?"
"What!? Remember what!?" Ichigo shouted in reply, the terrified eyes changed into a glare at the still-stood-in-silence of the white man. "I d-don't remember ever having an acquaintance like you!" he continued, now slightly harsh to the white man's ears.
"…not even a slightest bit…?" the unknown boy's golden eyes shot towards the substitute Shinigami, having a change of tone in his once-hoarse voice and giving him a pleading look.
Ichigo was stunned a bit by his sudden change of expression, when suddenly something hit his head as he saw the white man's face.
It was a sudden struck of pain that gave him a headache on Ichigo's mind. He crouched down, clinging on his feet as both of his hand clutched his scalp, trying to make the pain go away, although it did not help even a little.
A scenery began to manifested before his eyes. At first, it was blurry; he couldn't see anything like a static buzzing from an old television. Then, the blurry screen starts to get thinned off; now he could see three shadows (yet he still can't make it for what the shadows were).
As the blur started to get thinner and thinner, now he had a good look to where he was right now. A room, a medium sized room with a wooden floor beneath his feet which were wearing the straw sandals of Shinigami's. A wooden-oak door that was more like a cabinet at the left side of the room, while an opened window with a white frame and light green curtains hanging nicely at the left side of the room.
It now strucked him clearly; this was his room.
And then he heard a barely audible mumbling coming from the left side of the room. He tilted his head, now found two boys about the age of 6 and a slender and gorgeous woman with curly long hair crouching beside the bed which the two boys currently were sitting on, with one boy (a pale-looking boy who had a white hair and white skin, not to add he was wearing a white t-shirts, too. He's more likely to be a snow princess, cut that, snow prince if not for his commoner clothes) being covered with a white blanket of his lower body.
"Hichigo, you need to eat first before you sleep, okay?" the pretty woman (Ichigo realized that the woman was his mother, no wonder she felt pretty familiar to him) asked the white, more paler boy than the other who was sitting more closer to her, eyebrow raised into a frown.
"I'm not 'ungry, mom." The boy (literally Hichigo, as she called him with the 'odd' and familiar-in-a-way name) replied simply, still not fazed with her calm voice. "I can still live wit' out eatin' a day."
"Oh, no, you're not going to just leave your fat tummy all empty, are you?" the woman smiled in a caressing way while her smooth hand poked the white-covered-with-clothes tummy of the boy, making 'Hichigo' covered his mouth with the blanket, mumbling incoherently (cursing? Or just being shy? Ichigo thought to himself), a pink blush could be seen on his white cheek.
"Or you're not going to play with your brother tomorrow." Masaki smiled triumphantly, playing her trump card as the white boy's face turned into a shocked expression with a mouth agape.
"But--!!"
"There's no 'but-but', Kurosaki Hichigo," Masaki quickly cut the boy's voice before he could give another pro-contrary. "or you'll stay in the house all day."
"Eeh, just do as what mother told, Hichi." The other boy who looked just like Ichigo (brown chocolate eyes with pointy orange hair, although he was younger) and 'Hichigo' too that sat on the right side of the double-sized bed kneeled the white boy's shoulder softly, giving a crack smile as he did so.
"We're gonna play football match with the boys at school tomorrow! And you're not gonna miss it. It's once-in-a-lifetime only show!"
The white boy looked at the younger version of Ichigo, still giving a deadpan look before his lips cracked to a faint smile, giggling mockingly at the still-smiling younger Ichigo.
"Che. You 'r exaggeratin' it too much, Ichigo." Said Hichigo to the orange-haired boy and then tilted his head to the left, looking at Ichigo's mother reassuring face.
"Fine, mom. You win, where's the ugly white liquid I need to chunk down in order for ya two to be happy?"
"It's not 'ugly white liquid', Hichigo. It's called porridge." Her 'mother' corrected his word –a smile still hanging on the edge of her lips- although surely knowing that his son knew what the correct phrase was. She then lifted a bowl from the desk behind her with hot steam coming from the slimy white substances.
As the boy gobbled down the entire spoon full of porridge handed by his mother, Ichigo hugged him tightly, making the white boy startled a little before blushing, still chewing down the food in his mouth.
"Now we could… pl…y tog…er tom…rrow…," his voice was disturbed by a faint buzzing that kept getting louder and louder as time passes.
"Wait…," the real Ichigo talked to the shadowed graphic of once-three-peoples there as his hand outstretched forward, trying to reach the trio as the imaginary started to be darkened by a black void, although he still could hear a faint voice of the younger him.
"…ight…,"
"Hichi-nii?"
The moment he opened his eyes, he only saw a strand of white hairs, owned by the evil-looking white boy, looking at him mockingly. The white boy, he was crouching down, tilting his head to the side to look at Ichigo who was leaning down on the side of the twisted sky-crapper building, hand outstretched forward just like how he did in his 'dream' just now.
In the end, he was still in the twisted up-side downed world of his mind. Still trapped with the malevolent boy. Still trapped between the rift of dream and reality, as his 'unconscious' mind was the gap who aparted it all.
But was it just a dream?
Or his mind spoke the truth?
"Thing your brain's all good now, King?" he asked mockingly with a grin always plastered on his dead-like face.
"Do ya remember me now?"
Ichigo could only wheeze and wheeze a little since somehow it made him hard to breath because of the stagnant air thanks to the white boy's presences, left hand clutching to his chest, grasping the black silk of his Shihakushou tightly as the white boy who was standing in front of him, all high and mighty, gave him a smirk.
His right hand which was outstretched just now grasped the white boy's ankle, whispering something inaudibly.
"Hmm…?" the odd-wearing white Shinigami leaned his head forward, separated only by mere inches with Ichigo's nose bridge. "What didja say?"
"…go…"
"What?"
"Hichigo…," Ichigo said the word again as his grasp tightened to his ankle. "that was… your name…, was it…?"
Hichigo smiled a little, but not in a malevolent way, not with a smirk, instead he nodded slightly, giving another smile and said, "Yup. You 'r indeed a quick learner, aren't ya, King?"
Ichigo coughed a little more, as trying to get oxygen to his seemed-to-be-empty lung. His chest was painful, and it seemed it was infecting the inner part of his body, especially at the line where he had been slashed with the Hollow's claws in the latest battle.
"…why… why are you calling her 'mother'!?" he shrieked loudly at the white boy who still having his wide smile, nearly turning into a grin, on his face.
"Why, ya say? You 'r jus' bein' silly, nee? Kurosaki Masaki was my mother. Was it strange enoug' to call someone as 'mother', especially if she had a special relationship to you, such as… 'family'?" he said simply in an easy-going manner, although the last word sounded to be said with a sarcasm, as if he really understands about what Ichigo had seen and meant accordingly earlier. "Eeh… Or ya want me to call her 'old had' instead?" he chuckled jokingly that made Ichigo's grasp got even tighter, feeling insulted by the joke.
"You…!!" D-don't you dare call her 'mother' or even 'old hag' anymore, imposter!!"
His smile died down, turning into a death glare as his eyebrow twitched –either being angered or just startled by the title he was given. Hichigo then swifted his black-nailed hand, both thumb and his index-finger squeezed Ichigo's chin and pulling it up, so their eyes crossed, making Ichigo could saw the black sclera and the black iris clearly, queasy feeling planted once again deep in his stomach.
"And what did you call me an 'imposter' for, Ichigo?" his voice was pretty distorted and dry.
"Who did I 'imposed', Ichigo? Did I 'impose' you? No, right? You saw that. The vision."
"Or ya jus' bein' jealous cuz I got your mother's attention? You 'r jus' bein' childish, King." He now gave a large grin, returning to his once-demeanor voice, making Ichigo struggled even more to escape from the man's grip.
The white boy –Hichigo- sighed a little, seeing as his King struggled in his grip, before giving a smirk. "Che. Fine, King. I'll let ya go for now, seems ya haven' remembered me pretty well."
"But remember," said Hichigo in a malevolent way as his left hand squeezed Ichigo's shihakushou fiercely, pulling it up so now he's in the same eye-level as his, gripping Ichigo's back tightly as he did so.
"There are no next time, brother!!" he gave a very creepy laugh as he pulled Ichigo closer to his body, white pale lips pressed against Ichigo's that made a sudden shock to the redhead as his eyes grew widened.
But he can't fight back, either he had no energy to do so, or just simply enjoyed the cruel kiss.
As their lips parted away, his vision started to getting blurry, his head got another struck of headache.
"Goodbye, Ichigo."
"for now…"
"AAAAAAAARRRRHHHHH!!!!!"
Seems that sudden shouting and tantrum-ing (he waggled his arms and moving his legs up and down) made him to cough a lot harder than he did when he was facing that damn white boy. Now his breath was getting shorter, wheezing hardly trying to find air to breathe, just like someone who was suffering asthma.
Then he noticed, he's no longer in the white boy's clutch (or actually, his grip) no longer kissing him (now the thought made him disgusted even more, what the hell, did he doesn't get enough love and turned into a weirdo autistic homosexual who kissed everyboy he seen or what. Even someone he knew that always had his parents gone outboard didn't turn into something like that), and no longer in the twisted world of his mind, no longer trapped with his… brother…?
He shook his head, denying for what he had seen just now. It must be a trick from the white fiend, he said. He knew exactly, that he didn't have any brother, twins more ever, named… Hichigo…
Or did he?
Kurosaki Hichigo.
What a good play-twist on his name. Pffft. Imposter.
Now, he was sitting on a futon covered with light green blanket. It was placed in the center of an old-fashioned room with white sliding door (at the lower left corner of the door, there was some sakura tree patchwork) and a rice plant-colored tatami.
Not too long after that, the door slided to the side, revealing a raven-haired girl wearing a white one-piece dress, scowl clearly plastered on her small face (although soon that scowl changed to a brief shock), making Ichigo stunned a bit with her scary expression.
"Eeh… Rukia? Are you alright?" Ichigo asked innocently.
The said girl covered her mouth with both of her palms, purple eyes started to flickering to hold tears in her black eyelid. Sooner, she quickly ran to the still-sitting Ichigo and hugged him tightly, his head bumped against her chest (that made him blushed a little as he noticed, her breasts was not bad at all; it's all squeezy and soft), face all between both of her armpits.
"Oh my God!! I thought you were dead!! Thanks God, you're alive…!" she screamed happily although tears started to burst from her eyelid.
"Ru…Rukia…?" Ichigo started feeling uncomfortable as the female Shinigami tightened her hug. "My chest h-hurt…"
"Oooh…! Aaah! I-I'm sorry…! Kaie—err… Ichigo!" Rukia quickly swifted her body backward when she suddenly realized that it was Ichigo whom she hugged so dearly, not a certain someone who had been buried 6 feets under the ground.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow, slightly confused to the raven-haired Shinigami's weird attitude who was blushing faintly although she tried to cover it as she just gave him her back. Ichigo thought to himself, she acts so different today, heck, maybe she ate the wrong drugs yesterday?
"Anyway, Rukia, where are we?" he asked, washing away the thought, to the still-blushing Shinigami who then gasped a little, finally woke up from her day-dreaming of a certain someone before finally returned to her usual wry and solemn voice.
"Oh, we're staying at Urahara's house. I brought you here after you passed out that time, since my kidou spell was not enough to heal your severe wounds." Rukia pointed at the white bandage wrapped around Ichigo's naked upper body. "…and I was right to bring you here in the first place."
He didn't say anything in reply, but instead looked at his bandaged chest, touching it with his stiffened hand.
It didn't hurt even a bit.
He tilted his head and his eyes crossed to Rukia's purple eyes which were still staring at him.
"How many days I've slept?
"What?" the raven-haired girl tilted his head to the side, slightly confused. "You're not even have been here for a day, so if you're worried about your family, I've checked the house yesterday, but the house was all pitch black; seems your family hasn't come home yet. But I took my gigai from Chappy, though." She said tentatively, pointing to the body she used right now. "Oh, and I've Kon using your body, so, no sweats if they ever come home."
'Hm? That was strange.' The redhead thought to himself while he rubbed his chin. 'Usually that old man will never not come home or late either. Something really must had HAD happened.'
Suddenly a name popped in his mind from the midst of nowhere.
'Hichigo?'
He rubbed his grassy hair, scowl formed in his tired face.
'Shit, could you just stop thinking about that damn name, Ichigo!?'
Ichigo then tilted to the window beside him in order to forget the name by looking at the sun's warming rays that radiated on his slightly red skin.
'Not even a day, huh…' he thought to himself, remembering Rukia's word. So he'd slept here for one night only. It was strange that his wound could be healed so quickly for one day, no, night, only.
"Was Urahara-san the one who healed me?" Ichigo asked again, receiving a simple nod from his Shinigami partner.
'Wow, seems getaboshi really have one amazing skills, huh?' Ichigo thought to himself.
He then leaned his head on the pillow again, resting his tired boy (Urahara maybe did had healed him, but he was still tired at the moment), giving a blank stare to the wooden ceiling while the room was covered with an awkward silence. Rukia only watched him with tired eyes, a glimpse of black color could be spotted at her lower eyelid; she's been tired as well, and it seems she had been watching over her wounded partner in the past night.
"Uum…, Ichigo?" asked Rukia to break the silence.
"Yeah?"
"I… Uum… I'm sorry, I was careless… In that fight…," her hands were fidgeting. "If it wasn't because of me, you should not have been like a detentioned-person in the bed… I—"
"It's alright, Rukia." Said Ichigo calmly with a small smile on his face, something that's unusual to be seen. "It's not your fault, anyway, and i—uuh… I was just thinking about something, can't focused on the fight."
Rukia smiled a little, somehow felt relieved that Ichigo had said that.
"Oh, and Rukia, can I ask you something?" Ichigo continued.
"Hm?"
"When you entered the room here, you seemed… Eer… Angry? Did something happen?"
Rukia eyes suddenly cracked wide open with a shock covering her entire small face. She gulped a little, thought not noticed by the redhead who asked her, seemed to be hesitant to tell him.
"I—"
Just before she wanted to answer, the door behind her slided open, showing the ragged mysterious peddler with his cheery attitude and all green outfits and of course, both eyes still covered with his green-stripped hat, followed by a stout and muscular man behind him.
"Oooh~!! Kurosaki-san! Seems you've awaken!! How's your beauty sleep tonight specially special service given by us for our loyal customer~?" Urahara chirped merrily, swinging the white paper fan he always brought back and forth.
"A-aah!! Urahara!" the raven-haired Shinigami shrieked a little because of the peddler sudden appearances, while Ichigo just gave him a large sweat drop.
"Well, how are you doing, Kurosaki-san?" he padded on the tatami, ignoring the midget shriek as he crouched down, checking the bandage which wrapped around the boy's chest.
"Huh? Well, I'm fine, I think." Ichigo slided his body, growing uncomfortable as the ex-captain wraggled around his body.
Urahara nodded a little, scrubbing his unshaved chin as he did so, and sooner rose up on his feet and grinned happily.
"Well! Seems Kurosaki-san indeed is getting better! Thanks to my special abilities," said Urahara, adjusting his hat cockily, "now you're free to go home!"
The redhead and the midget frowned a little, pissed by the owner of the weird shop's cocky manners.
"Fine, fine, it's not like I love to spend my time around this weird store anyway. Not to add I've got school toda—CRAAAP!! SCHOOL ALREADY STARTED!!"
As the moment the substitute Shinigami screamed (which made the tree Shingamis plugged their ears with both of their index-fingers), he quickly rushed, passing Rukia who's still stunned on the floor as well as the ex-captain and Tessai, ignoring his still-Shinigami-form. A shout from Jinta could be heard from outside of the room, cursing the orange-headed Shinigami as he ran. Maybe he had bumped onto him earlier.
"Wait, Ichigo—"
"Nee, Kuchiki-san," Urahara (seemed to) shunpo'd over, appearing in front of the adopted daughter of Kuchiki family, shrouding her way off although she did not see his movement even a bit. "Would you mind giving this to Ichigo-san," he handed Rukia a bottle full of purple pills, "and mind sparring some of your time to take Ichigo here for a daily medical check-up?"
"What? Daily medical check-up?" she raised her eyebrow. "Is something wrong with him?"
"I can't say there's something wrong with him, but…"
"Neither can I say he is all right."
Rukia's eyebrow twitched a little, giving a respond to Urahara's not-solid answer. "Is this had something to do with the one you said to me earlier?"
"Precisely." He replied solemnly, mouth covered with his white paper fan.
Rukia closed her eyes, thinking for some time before suddenly took the bottle from the man's hand fiercely. She then walked pass the two men as she tilted her head.
"Fine, but there's a 'but', Urahara. I will not do what you've said to me, unless you've given me a solid reason to do that."
"Although," she tilted his head again to look forward, "thinking about it, no matter what reason you have, I'll still not do that, no matter how you begged me to."
Urahara could only watched in silent as the female-Shinigami stepped outside the small building and quickly ran away, trying to catch up to her substitute who's already running ahead, sound of her feminine voice calling his name echoed in the air.
Mouth once again covered with his white paper fan, Urahara tilted his head to the side to look at the stout man who was standing beside him all the time.
"Tessai."
"Yes?"
A foxy smile cracked behind the white paper fan.
"Let us be prepared for the worst to come."
-to be continued
Aaah! Aah! Pl-please don't kill me for the wall of text above! *thrown by knife, scythe, zanpakutou, etc.* I dunno, this chapter was supposed to be very short (actually I planned this chapter to ended when Ichigo had arrived in the school and in Biology class), but then an idea popped up to just revealed Hichigo and Ichigo's little past xP
Well, that's why I'd like you to vote on my-newly made vote in my profile! Would you mind giving a vote or two, so the latter chapters could be made that's more suited to your like?
And while you at this, mind giving me some more reviews? I'd very appreciated it if you give me some :D Opinion, critics, things that you don't like, ooh! Almost forget! And opinion about should I change the fic to T-rated? Everything is welcomed :D (except for flame, of course. I do welcomed flame, but just give me a soft flame with a constructive advice, 'kay?) With this, I'm out for the day. See you in the next chapter!
