“Broken Innocence” Chapter 2

The gunshots had awoken Hideo upstairs. He tried to ignore the shot that killed his father. Hideo knew what was going on… the yakuza had found his family. When the second shot came, he broke down and could not stop crying. He knew what had just happened was real and now he was alone. Several minutes later, Hideo exited his closet, his clothing moist from his tears. He walked downstairs and found his parents dead on the floor. Hideo dropped to his knees, his thoughts racing.

“I warned him… why didn’t he listen?” Hideo cried. “I knew that they’d find us… I knew it…I KNEW it!”

Hideo looked over at his fallen mother. He ground his teeth; his emotions changing from sorrow to fury in seconds. “Mother was gentle… she wouldn’t harm a fly… and they killed her too… those jerks… THOSE HEARTLESS TYRANTS!”

In that moment, a spark lit up in Hideo’s heart, a spark created from the rage flowing through his veins. Hideo’s body glowed with an amber hue and his eyes became white and lifeless. The sudden burst of power was too much for him, Hideo doubled over into a heap on the floor.

This was far from unnoticed, a demonic specter known as a Hollow felt the spiritual energy coming from Hideo, but this was no ordinary Hollow. This monster that had eluded the Soul Society for over five decades, the Grand Fisher; he rushed his bulky form to Nakamura's house. Once there, Grand Fisher looked at the dead bodies and at the unconscious Hideo.

“This boy… he has such power… what a treat it would be to devour him,” he thought. “His power is similar to that of a Soul Reaper… but different… I cannot explain it… wait… perhaps I can take this boy… and use him… yes… that Soul Reaper that calls himself Ichigo Kurosaki is going to be a thorn in my side for sure… he has no qualms with killing a Hollow… but would he kill… another human? Heh… heh heh… heh heh… HAHAHAHA!” With that, Grand Fisher scooped up the boy and disappeared into the night as quickly as he had appeared.


Three weeks had passed since that tragic evening. It was now a bright sunny morning in Karakura Town. On this day, Ichigo sat in his classroom with his head on the desk. He stayed up all night to study for a test that he had no time to study for otherwise. His life as a Soul Reaper made it a bit difficult for him to focus on his schoolwork. He sat peacefully until he received a large pat on the back.

“Good morning, Ichigo!!” shouted the loudmouth Keigo Asano.

Ichigo raised his head up and swiftly punched his friend in the stomach. Keigo screamed and ran around the classroom while holding his abdomen in pain. Ichigo’s other friends, Chad and Mizuiro, shook their heads as this happened. Keigo eventually calmed down and resumed shouting at Ichigo.

“What’s your problem!? You look like you were up all night!” said Keigo.

“That’s because I WAS up all night, Keigo!” Ichigo answered. “The last thing I need is you coming in here and yelling into my ear!”

“Well, what were you doing last night?!” inquired Keigo. “It’s not like you were with a pretty girl or something.”

Orihime Inoue enters the room with Tatsuki Arisawa. Orihime smiled and waved at Ichigo, a boy who she’s had a slight crush on for quite some time. Ichigo did not smile, which is usually the case, but he waved back for the sake of being polite.

“What?” Keigo asked. “I get it now! Waving at her… she’s smiling… you and her?! Last night?! You dirty fox! Orihime’s mine!”

“WAVING DOESN’T IMPLY THAT!” shouted Ichigo. “I was just being nice!”

“Being nice?” Keigo continued. “Oh… so that’s what you call it. ‘Being nice’ is your codeword for… you know. I see. JERK!”

Ichigo punched Keigo again. He ran around the room like he did before, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“It’s an endless cycle of stupidity,” said a disappointed Mizuiro.

“Hmm,” answered Chad.

Rukia Kuchiki walked into the room and dragged Ichigo out by his ear. All the students blinked repeatedly and tried to contemplate what just occurred.

“Was that Rukia?” asked Tatsuki. “She didn’t say a word. She just walks in here and yanks Ichigo out. Weird.”

Orihime nodded and smiled. “Yeah, Rukia must believe that actions speak louder than words.”

“Hmm,” said Chad.

Out in the hallway, Rukia talked with Ichigo. “Ichigo, didn’t you feel that spiritual energy from last night?” she asked.

“Yeah, I felt something while I was studying. It felt like a Soul Reaper, so I let it slide,” Ichigo said. “It wasn’t a Hollow or that Quincy Uryu. Do you know something?”

Rukia shook her head. “No, I did not get a call from Soul Society either. There was a Hollow alert around the same time, but it didn’t last for long.”

“Maybe a Soul Reaper suppressed his power and quickly killed the Hollow,” Ichigo theorized. “It felt like a quick burst, so that could have been it.”

“I doubt it,” continued Rukia. “In any event, stay alert. You never know when--”

The Hollow alert went off just then, Rukia paused. She looked at her phone to get the location of the disturbance. Rukia and Ichigo hurried to find a place to provide some cover so no one would see what would happen next. Ichigo pulled out a ragged stuffed lion from his school bag.

“It was all dark and stuffy in there! ‘Bout time you let me out!” complained the little lion.

“Shut up and open wide,” Ichigo replied bluntly, as he shoved his hand into the lion’s mouth and withdrew a small orb that resembled a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth. In a flash of light, his Soul Reaper form broke free from his human body. In the place where his soul once resided was a modified soul created by the scientists of Soul Society. This one was known as Kon. Unlike Ichigo, Kon was perverted and fairly unreliable.

“Kon,” instructed Ichigo. “Don’t make a fool out of me this time! Keigo keeps asking me why I was running around with a bra on my head…”
“Ha! That was last week!” Kon laughed. “No need to worry! I won’t wear another bra on my… um, your head!”

“Good… come on, Rukia!” yelled Ichigo as he ran away with Rukia behind him.

“I won’t wear another bra on your head,” muttered Kon to himself. “I’ll wear panties this time, hee hee…”



Broken Innocence Chapter 3