Chapter 4 - Picture of the Past
She was very unhappy on the inside but her face still maintained that usual scowl on the walk home. Ichigo was given the worst assignment ever by their English teacher when Friday came.
It was to write an essay about how the prom was like and what did they experience there; 500 words minimum. Of course she could lie, but she had to write so many words, and they never wrote an essay that long. The deadline was next Monday, and for the first time, she was going through a writer's block. It was the first time she's at a loss on what to type, as she is always able to do essays easily.
Facing the monitor, she wasn't able to write one word for the past ten minutes. She left the computer five minutes later to plant the garden as her father told her to. While watering the plants, she saw Byakuya sitting on the bench outside, reading a book.
He looked peaceful this time, that it momentarily distracted her but she quickly regained focus and watered the others, scratching her head in self-annoyance. She didn't know that he is actually looking at a small picture of a younger him carrying Rukia when she was still a baby.
It was the only picture of his childhood that he brought with him before running away. No, that wasn't home. It was hell. Only he would know that.
He broke out of his thoughts as Ichigo walked closer, finished with watering the plants. She planned something that seemed stupid, she decided to get his opinion about the prom.
"Hey there." She greeted as her hands dug in her pockets. "You too." He said while hiding the picture by quickly flipping to the next page. "You have anything to ask me?"
"Yeah. I have an assignment, and I would like some help." She said, sitting down but keeping her distance from him. If ever she sat closer than that, her heart would ache again and she is not looking for that right now.
"What assignment?"
"It's an essay about what do you think of the prom and what happened to you there, and I didn't go." That was a great lie, she thought, for he wouldn't suspect anything.
"Why didn't you go?" He asked, looking at her. "I think there are better things to do than going to a prom. And somebody needed to watch the house." She saw no flinch or shock, and she was really relieved that he bought it.
"Alright, I'll give you some help." He took a deep breath, the short time more than enough to organize the answer in his head. "The prom was okay, but I didn't enjoy it that much because I wasn't interested to go in the first place, because it didn't seem that much of a big deal but how the other students acted at that night said otherwise. But the fact that they can have fun everyday to the fullest is worth envying. All in all it was fine, nothing special but it's not a complete waste of time."
She knew that he would not tell her that he danced with a girl. She was expecting that. "That's more than enough already. Thanks for the help."
With that she ran back in her house. Her heart hurt again, because she sensed a bit of pain in his voice when he said how teenagers would live so happily everyday. But either way she started typing, her eyes and hands focused on making the essay but her mind focused on him.
The more words she typed, the more he occupied her thoughts.
He looked again at the picture, his eyes turning into nothing but thin lines when he remembered his childhood. When he would think about it, he'd rather live with a poor but loving family than a rich but heartless one. His family was cruel. He despised them.
Family problems were common, that's for sure. But family problems can jade people in the most unlikely ways. Because of them, he couldn't live a normal, good and happy and instead he was trapped in their house, forbidden to do almost everything and forced to do this and that.
Back when he was a child, even when he was only four, they started to treat him badly that it shattered his happiness and his innocence.
"Byakuya! What are you doing? You're supposed to practice your calligraphy!" His father scolded a four and a half year-old Byakuya, who was playing with his toys.
With innocent eyes, he paused and looked at his father. And with no remorse his father took the toys away from his hands which he desperately tried to get back by jumping up. But his father won't give in to his pleas and crushed the toys, to which Byakuya watched in horror as he fell to his knees.
"As the heir, you should pay no attention to trivial things like toys." Those cruel words were followed by a slap on his son's cheek that it left a deep red hand mark on the soft skin.
A completely upset Byakuya ran to his room, grabbing the inked pen with hesitation, opened a blank paper and started writing, his hands shaking and his eyes threatening to let hot tears flow down and succeeded. His tears wet the pages and distorted the writings but he didn't care. He was too sad to notice that.
When his father left for work he went to his mother who didn't look at him once when he told her about what his dad did to him a while back. "He's just setting you straight. And he has a point. Training yourself to be the perfect heir is better than doing such useless stuff like playing with rubber and wood."
The venom of her words made him nearly cry. But he was mercilessly stopped by a hard slap on the other cheek, and he ran back to the room, realizing at such a young age one thing that was painfully true.
His parents don't love him, not one bit. They see him only as someone that would take their place in the future, but no more than that. He is their tool, and it hurt.
But still, he tried to change it but he would always get himself a beating that made him bleed or bruise. For the next two years he was put through harsh training, with only one hour of rest a day.
Everyone was pitiless. They were monsters, covering their rotten nature with masks that would say otherwise about their malevolence.
He would lie on the floor, covering his face, defenseless as his parents clubbed, slapped and kicked him with no mercy. He always bit his lip to prevent screaming or crying. Though how many times they did this to him, it would always be painful but he learned to not shed any tears.
"This is what you get for being so disobedient to us." His mother seethed, and he flinched from the voice. "We're your parents, so you'll follow our orders." She added, getting the stick from her husband and striking him unconscious.
He woke up in his room, with only one small candle serving as their source of light. He wasn't alone, a kind woman older by a few years with long silver hair nursed his wounds with a cloth soaked in disinfectant. He ignored the sting from the dabs, and asked who she is.
"I'm Isane Kotetsu. You never met me before, but I worked here since you were born. I'm one of the maids of your family." Byakuya nodded and he bit his lip again when she dabbed his forehead, which has traces of dried blood on them.
"I'm sorry. I could see at times how they would treat you." He shook his head at her words of pity, "I appreciate the sympathy, but you wouldn't understand."
"That's right. I was an orphan, so I don't know what it's like to have my mom and dad beat me up and shout at me everyday. But you have done nothing wrong, yet still they would always make your life miserable." She paused tending to his wounds as she reached down for something, and gave him a green toy that looked odd.
"Who or what is this?" He asked, strangely taking a liking to the toy. "It's Seaweed Ambassador. I got that from a child that I helped out from the streets before. It's yours now. I hope it makes you feel a little better."
In a long while, he smiled at the gift. "Thanks, Kotetsu-san." He said and that was the last smile she saw from him for another three years. He became an elite, but the abuse changed him to be quiet and cold, but has a soft spot for a few like Isane.
He followed orders and was rarely punished and he gained a deep hatred for his parents, for his family, the other relatives showed no love for him either. He hated them all. Though he became a master of many trades, it didn't please him.
In the end, he got no reward from his parents, his 'parents' who he see as monsters. Watching from dark corners, sometimes he wished death on them, agonizing death. Like when he trained in kendo, he always thought of his targets as his parents and it made him feel better.
He went with them to several parties, and he always left a good impression on the people who he was introduced to but he always felt empty at events like those.
Byakuya could feel how shallow everybody is, acting so kind which hides their true, dark and evil nature. That was why at every big event, he'd feel bored or displeased.
When he was nine years old, his mother gave birth to Rukia. The moment he carried her as his mother passed out from the exhaustion of labor, he knew, that he loved his newborn sister. The tiny smile that his baby sister gave him as he rocked her while sitting next to her crib proved that.
After so long, he smiled again every time he'd rock her and carry her in his arms and she'd laugh.
Another thing hit him when he remembered, if she grows up, she'll be tortured as well. He would be pained if he would see her cry, even cry more than he cried back then.
He didn't want her to bleed, to get hit, and to get yelled at when she begins to talk and walk. That was why he crossed the river, he decided to run away with her.
When he told Isane who he thought of as a true mom since they first met, she agreed and they decided to run away... the three of them. Using his account that he got starting seven years old, he withdrew all the money, packed what he needed and at midnight they fled the house, avoiding all guards and those alike.
"You don't regret doing this?" They rode a fast bullet train, and Isane looked at Byakuya feeding Rukia with warm milk. "Being away from them is more than enough. I can't completely get rid of them, but I'm certain I won't go back there."
That was his last night at their house, and the last time he saw them in person. But that wasn't the last time he heard from them. He got many calls from them everyday, and he refused their harsh demands to come back.
After three months they adopted a boy named Koga who replaced Byakuya. But still, even up to now they never stopped asking Byakuya to take their place, because of their whining of how the male heir should be a blood relative. Koga may have the skill, but he doesn't have the blood which is why they wanted Byakuya to come back.
The fact that that they would make a big deal about those kinds of things always made him want to commit parricide no matter how unlawful it is. He really loathed his family and that won't change.
A/N: And there goes chapter 4. If you like the new version, I'm glad. I hope it's okay. I know to those who read this since before that you'll always love the original, but I wish you'll love this as well. And if you'll be asking what happened to Isane after that, it will be explained in the future chapters.