Ghost Stories
This is for you, bb, just as promised. A K4 fiction for nonkonventional to cheer her up, and in payment for two fanarts ♥ - I do NOT own Bleach, please don't sue me as I have no money.
Ghost Stories
ICHIGO'S STORY
He knew. He knew before they had even been taken aside in class to be told they could go home early, he had known immediately that something had happened when Kaien hadn't been the one to wake them up that morning.
Dead. So final.
Ichigo listened to the news, pale and silent, before nodding and slamming into his room. He wasn't upset, that would come later, he was livid. How dare Kaien break those promises he'd made, how dare he abandon them without a word. How DARE he?
He didn't let himself mourn with the others, taking the heavy mantle of protector and oldest brother and trying to fill shoes he never could. He wouldn't let himself be sad Kaien died, he wouldn't let himself cry over someone who could abandon them like this.
All he could do now, was make sure their family never suffered again.
SHIRO'S STORY
"...Fuck."
Shiro's quiet curse was the only sound, made all the louder by the conspicuous absence of a telling off by Kaien afterwards. He couldn't bare to be around the others, he saw the intense pain and anger in Ichigo, felt it sear his soul like glass. He saw the lost look of Kon, the denial followed by a sort of helplessness.
He didn't feel angry, or sad, or helpless. He just felt scared.
Would it be like that when he died? Would he leave his brothers this angry and in pain? He did the only thing he could, take the hated pills on time and pray they kept him going. Because whatever happened now, Shiro wasn't leaving.
KON'S STORY
Kon just stared when his father told him Kaien was never coming back, that he'd been involved in some car accident with his girlfriend. He knew it couldn't be true - not Kaien-nii, not after their mother had already left such a gaping hole inside him. His big brother, so full of life and smiles and promises, he couldn't be dead...
He didn't cry, even though the twins did. He didn't understand how anyone couldn't have complete faith in their biggest brother to come back, he kept waking up expecting to see Kaien's big reassuring grin and hear him laugh about how he fooled them all again. He wanted a reassuring hair ruffle, one of those ones he had started complaining he was too old for. And, not that he would ever admit it, he would rather have one big bear-hug from Kaien, than ogle Hamika Tsu in Class B.
Days slipped into weeks, weeks slipped into years and Kon grew used to looking up to Ichi-nii as the new protector - but the orange haired boy, no matter how strong he made himself, could never replace Kaien's natural caring instinct and Kon missed his acutely.
He threw himself into ogling girls, to charming them and acting the fool at home. It gave his brothers something to focus on, someone to yell at - he knew it wasn't much, but it was all he could think of to help them, and as long as he was able he would make sure to provide even small distractions from the pain he knew they all still felt.
---
People thought they had moved on, the Kurosaki Boys had dealt with the loss.
But they were wrong, they had been whole as a four and cut down to three the absence was always conspicuous. Like they were missing a limb, a ghost that would follow them forever.
Ghost Stories
ICHIGO'S STORY
He knew. He knew before they had even been taken aside in class to be told they could go home early, he had known immediately that something had happened when Kaien hadn't been the one to wake them up that morning.
Dead. So final.
Ichigo listened to the news, pale and silent, before nodding and slamming into his room. He wasn't upset, that would come later, he was livid. How dare Kaien break those promises he'd made, how dare he abandon them without a word. How DARE he?
He didn't let himself mourn with the others, taking the heavy mantle of protector and oldest brother and trying to fill shoes he never could. He wouldn't let himself be sad Kaien died, he wouldn't let himself cry over someone who could abandon them like this.
All he could do now, was make sure their family never suffered again.
SHIRO'S STORY
"...Fuck."
Shiro's quiet curse was the only sound, made all the louder by the conspicuous absence of a telling off by Kaien afterwards. He couldn't bare to be around the others, he saw the intense pain and anger in Ichigo, felt it sear his soul like glass. He saw the lost look of Kon, the denial followed by a sort of helplessness.
He didn't feel angry, or sad, or helpless. He just felt scared.
Would it be like that when he died? Would he leave his brothers this angry and in pain? He did the only thing he could, take the hated pills on time and pray they kept him going. Because whatever happened now, Shiro wasn't leaving.
KON'S STORY
Kon just stared when his father told him Kaien was never coming back, that he'd been involved in some car accident with his girlfriend. He knew it couldn't be true - not Kaien-nii, not after their mother had already left such a gaping hole inside him. His big brother, so full of life and smiles and promises, he couldn't be dead...
He didn't cry, even though the twins did. He didn't understand how anyone couldn't have complete faith in their biggest brother to come back, he kept waking up expecting to see Kaien's big reassuring grin and hear him laugh about how he fooled them all again. He wanted a reassuring hair ruffle, one of those ones he had started complaining he was too old for. And, not that he would ever admit it, he would rather have one big bear-hug from Kaien, than ogle Hamika Tsu in Class B.
Days slipped into weeks, weeks slipped into years and Kon grew used to looking up to Ichi-nii as the new protector - but the orange haired boy, no matter how strong he made himself, could never replace Kaien's natural caring instinct and Kon missed his acutely.
He threw himself into ogling girls, to charming them and acting the fool at home. It gave his brothers something to focus on, someone to yell at - he knew it wasn't much, but it was all he could think of to help them, and as long as he was able he would make sure to provide even small distractions from the pain he knew they all still felt.
---
People thought they had moved on, the Kurosaki Boys had dealt with the loss.
But they were wrong, they had been whole as a four and cut down to three the absence was always conspicuous. Like they were missing a limb, a ghost that would follow them forever.