Made it to a point where what if Musaki and Ichi had a conflict that occured with bullying and it ended up with Ichi using his powers on Musaki? Wonder Panda Tan-Tan...hope you like this one.
Chapter 9: Releasing Pain
Ichi hid himself in the dark corners of our room after something had happened a few hours earlier between him and the Three Stooges after they completely beat him down because of their epic failure of that plan they tried to do as a sign for revenge against me and him.
Earlier that day
Ichi was on his way back to the room and when I saw him come this way, I convinced him to come over to the picnic table so we can hopefully hang outside. He seemed a little reluctant at first, but after a little bit of coaxing, he finally made his way over when...out comes Cash shoving him down to the ground and kicking him deep in the shin and he started screaming, "That's what you get for getting us in trouble, freak!"
I could tell that he was still mad about the fact that their plan to get Ichi in trouble was a flop and he went on to say that I was responsible for not kicking him out, which I thought was completely rude of him to say when it was really themselves that landed in hot water.
"That panda...he's not your real friend. He just took pity on you." Cash said, in a cold yet furious tone.
That obviously didn't sit well with Ichi and it didn't sit well with me either. How could I take pity on him when I saved him from those stupid hogholes? I could tell that Ichi was about to lose it at any minute and he said, "Take it back!"
"Never!" Cash spat out.
At that point, Ichi's hands ignited into flames and screamed, "Take it back or you'll be burnt hog!"
"Make me!" Cash said, then spitting on his face.
Suddenly, Flash and Dash went from behind Ichi and tackled him down and I quickly ran over to stop them, but Cash punched me in the nuts so deep that I fell down to the ground, groaning very loudly. Then, he went over to my face and said, "That was for messing up our plans!"
"Yeah, why should you stick up for that freak?" asked Flash.
"He's my friend!" I exclaimed.
Ichi completely grabbed ahold of both Dash and Flash and slammed them to the wall and pinned them down as he was about to raise his fist as flames came out of him and he said, "This is for making my life a living misery! Now you'll get yours!"
Cash wanted to block me out, but I shoved him out of the way and said, "ICHI, STOP!"
Ichi glared at me angrily and yelled, "Stay out of this, Musaki!"
"No! I'm not gonna let you do this!" I pleaded.
Ichi grew mad at me and he said, "They deserve it!"
"Yes, I agree, but not like this! If you do this now...you'll be exactly what you're becoming!"
I was scared of what Ichi was gonna do if he actually killed the boars, but then, he lunged at me and grabbed ahold of my neck and wanted to strike me and he said, "I told you to stay out of this, but you wouldn't listen to me!"
I felt the flames were gonna come at me and as Ichi was ready to aim at me, I looked into his eyes and tears started to come out and I asked him, "Would you really do that to me...to your best friend?"
As soon as Ichi heard these two words, he looked in my eyes and in an instant, he began to see what he was attempting to do and the flames quickly disappeared and he lets go of me and then looks at me, realizing what he was gonna do and he looked at his hands again and whispered, "Not again. What have I done?"
I wanted to let him know that he's okay, but Ichi backed away from me as if he didn't want to be anywhere near me and just ran away, crying. As soon as he was gone, I began to contemplate on the fact that this just happened and he wasn't the one to blame. I turned to the three boars and I grew very angry with them...so much so that I couldn't even say anything to them and just ran off to find Ichi.
"Ichi, wait!"
Flashback ends
Ichi felt like this situation could've happened if I wasn't there in the middle of it and as he looked at himself in the mirror and saw himself on what could've happened if he gave into retaliation of the three boars-even though they would've deserved it-and turned him into something that they would call him.
"I almost...killed my friend. I...I...I am...I'm exactly what they say I am...a monster."
That was something he couldn't escape and just broke down crying again completely unaware that I was standing there the whole time, but what met my ears was surprising to me.
It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone
Something has been taken
from deep inside of me
A secret I kept locked away
no one can ever see
Wounds so deep, they never show
They never go away
Like moving pictures in my head
For years and years they've played
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made, I would
If I could stand up and take the blame, I would
If I could take all my shame to the grave, I would
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made, I would
If I could stand up and takr the blame, I would
I could take all my shame to the grave
It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone
Sometimes I remember
the darkness of my past
Bringing back these memories
I wish I didn't have
Sometimes I think of letting go
and never looking back
And never moving forward
So, there would never be a past
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made, I would
If I could stand up and take the blame, I would
If I could take all my shame to the grave, I would
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made, I would
If I could stand up and take the blame, I would
I would take all my shame to the grave
Just washing it aside
All of the hopelessness inside
Pretending I don't feel misplaced
It's so much simpler than change
It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
than face all this pain here all alone
It's easier to run
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
I could take my shame to the grave
It's easier to go
If I could change, I would
Take back the pain, I would
Retrace every wrong move that I made, I would
If I could stand up and take the blame, I would
I could take all my shame to the grave
When he was finished with the song, I stood there stunned and speechless and I thought to myself, 'Did he really...?' Because I never heard him sing before and I could tell that he's releasing every ounce of pain he felt.
"I'm so sorry, Musaki. I'm so sorry." Ichi said, sobbing.
It really broke my heart to see Ichi like this and I wanted to just hug him so badly and I said to him, "I forgive you, Ich."
When he turns around and saw me, he immediately hid himself away from me just like he did on the first day we met and I slowly walked up to him and I said, "Please, Ich...can I talk to you? I'm not mad at you for what happened back there."
There was no answer coming from him and I told him, "Ichi...please."
Ichi came over to me with tears in his eyes and it looked like he was really sorry for what he did and he said, "I don't wanna hurt you again. I almost ended your life."
"Maybe I'm the one to blame for this. If I hadn't have asked you to hang with me outside or even stopped the fight, this never wouldn't have happened." I said, feeling a little guilty.
"It's not your fault. If anything, you should blame me. I wouldn't blame you if our friendship was over." Ichi said, sadly.
I strongly disagreed with that and I came over to him and I told him, "Our friendship is never over. I made a promise that I'd be here for you when you feel alone and I'm willing to keep that promise."
Ichi wiped his eyes and lets out a sniffle and then just hugged me tightly as cried in my shoulders, saying, "I'm sorry, Musaki. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Ich. I'm here."
This is the first conflict between these two...and later in the story, it won't be the last. Yes, there is a second one. So stick around. Also, that song was 'Easier to Run' from Linkin Park.