Red Riding Strawberry

Sweet Misery

It  was cold inside the door.

Abnormally cold.

Why?

What's going on?

"Ichiru!"

Ichigo's feet finally touched solid ground. Looking around, he found himself in the middle of a meadow covered in snow and....blood.

Turning his head to the right, Ichigo saw someone running towards him, a little girl.

"Yuzu?" Ichigo questioned, the little girl looking a lot like his little sister.

When the girl got closer, Ichigo realized it wasn't his little sister. She had longer strawberry blonde hair, and her eyes were bright blue.

"Ichiru!" She called loudly, her winter coat looking vaguely older than Ichigo's known fashion.

'I'm in Ichiru's memory. I'm...him...'

The little girl wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at Ichigo with the brightest smile Ichigo had ever seen on a little girl surrounded by blood.

"You should be inside Aiko," Ichigo found himself speaking without even meaning to.

The little girl, Aiko, smiled up at him even wider, "I wanted to see my big brother and how strong he was." The girl then began to pout, "but I didn't get to see you fight the demons."

'So that's what happened here. Ichiru had killed a group of demons. But how?'

"When you get older, I'll teach you how to use your magic as well as I do, Aiko. I promise," Ichigo's hand pushed Aiko's hair out of her face, making her smile again.

'That's right, my family blood line was mostly made up of witches and warlocks.'

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by violent coughing. Ichiru's little sister had gone into a fit of coughing, and when he looked down, Ichigo noticed that when she coughed, blood would spray from her mouth.

Ichigo grew worried, picked Aiko up, and started rushing towards a certain destination.

"We'll be home in no time, Aiko. Don't worry, I'll make you better." Ichigo spoke to Ichiru's little sister.

Aiko started shivering uncontrollably, and Ichigo's heart clenched. 

'She's dying, and Ichiru can't acknowledge that fact. He's holding on too tight....that's when Shiro was reborn in his soul...when he tried to save his sister with a spell...Ichiru....' Ichigo figured out with a heavy heart.

Ichigo sat back, and watched the rest without taking the reins. Ichiru brought his sister home, and he had laid her on a table with candles.

He told her everything was going to be okay, and he started the spell. When he started the chant, Ichigo felt himself being sucked out of the memory, but before he was pulled out, he could hear Aiko's scream.

Ichigo  walked up to Shiro, his hand glowing a bright red. 

"Don't worry, Shirosaki, it will be quick." Ichiru said sweetly as he raised his hand, and pointed it at Shiro's head. The glow got bigger, and Ichiru charged the cero and made it as powerful as he could.

As he opened his hand to shoot it off, a scream rang through his head, and Ichigo's eyes widened. 

"Aiko..." Ichiru whispered before his hand dropped to his side.