Belonging

Ch.13 Murderous Fiend

"Ichigo! What happen to him!?"

"Chad!"

Chad comes running up to us, holding the bird cage close to him. He was looking at Ichigo's lifeless body that was laying facedown behind us.

"Perfect timing." Rukia addresses him. "Take the parakeet and Ichigo's body and hide them in a safe place."

She faces forward, watching the fight in front of us.

"New girl...? What...in the world is Ichigo-"

"Don't worry. Right now, Ichigo... Is in the middle of a battle."

"...Sorry."

A new voice caught the attention of both Rukia and I. We look towards the sad parakeet.

"What did you say?"

"I said, everything is my fault... Because of me, you two and that mister are hurt... It's all because I wanted to bring my mommy back to life... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Wait!"

Rukia was now standing in front of the bird cage, dead serious.

"Bring your mother back to life? Did someone tell you that there is a way?!"

"That's right."

We face the Hollow to find him kneeling on the ground with Ichigo's sword in it's shoulder. Ichigo kept his stance as we all listen to what the Hollow had to say.

"I was the one who killed that's brat's mother. It was four years or five years ago... Back when I was still alive. At that time, I was a so-called serial killer. I roamed to various places and killed seven to eight people. There was quite a racket about me on tv. I was famous."

How could he take away that boy's mother?

"That brat's mother was my last one. It sure was fun. No matter how many times I stabbed her, she kept running. She was trying to protect the brat... It was fantastic! That was the best part of killing her! I made sure to savor it!"

"Bastard!" Ichigo growls.

How could he say all this in front of this boy?

"But suddenly, it all went wrong. I followed her out to the veranda to give her the final stab. It was then that brat grabbed my shoe laces. Because of that, I lost my balance and fell to my death. It's still a shame. I killed the parent but I didn't get to kill the brat. After all, it was his fault I died!

So I decided to play a game to punish the damn brat! I took his soul and forced him inside that parakeet...and gave him a mission. He has to run away from me in his current form for three months! If he does that, I'll return his mom to life!"

How cruel...

"You can do-"

"Moron! Of course I can't!" the Hollow interrupts Ichigo. "I was lying to him so he'd go along with it! But it was completely effective! The highlight of this punishment game was that I, of course, killed the humans trying to protect him one after the other.

Every time I killed one of them, that brat would whine about it! "Stop already. I don't like this. Don't kill anymore!" But that's when I would say this, "Your mom is waiting to be rescued."."

...I want to end this murderous monster...but I don't have any power to do anything. Please Ichigo...get rid of this mistake to society.

The Hollow continues to explain, filling my ears with his disgusting voice.

"It's fun, you know? With that line alone, that brat would soon perk up! He'd wail, "Mommy! Mommy!"."

I could tell, Ichigo was feeling the same way I was. With fast movements, the Hollow pushes, Ichigo's sword away.

"Don't be so disturbed, substitute soul reaper! Your stance...is unguarded!"

Summoning more of those leeches, the Hollow throws them at my brother. Ichigo ends up catches a few, stopping them from hitting his face.

"It's over!" the Hollow wails as he stick it's tongue out.

Just as it was about to make the horrid sound, Ichigo swings his fist right through his teeth, shattering them.

"No...way..."

"Hey," Ichigo grins. "I'm returning these bombs."

"..."

The Hollow doesn't move or dare make a sound.

"What? You'd set off the bombs with that tongue of yours, right? Let's hear you make a sound with that tongue."

"..."

"You won't do it, huh? So then I'll just...take it!"

With all his might, Ichigo rips the Hollow's tongue right out from his mouth.