A special kind of broken (completed)

Ichigo woke up in the nurse's office at school. He jumped up holding his chest. “What is going on?” He asked aloud to no one.

But intending no response to come, Ichigo was surprised when Ishida pulled the curtain open dressed in a nurse’s outfit. “You’ve been a naughty boy Ichi.” She said seductively, crawling onto the bed, and slowly on top of him. The light from the window told him it was night time, and likely a full moon.

“Ishida?! What are you doing?” Ichigo struggled to get out from under her but in his state of panic and confusion, failed to do so.

“Someone told me you’ve been breaking the rules little Ichi. I think you should stay here with me and take your medicine. You’ll feel much better, I promise.” She said this as she licked the needle of a syringe filled with who knows what, and tried to stab Ichigo.

Ichigo struggled with her for a moment and then felt an overwhelming power growing within him. “Stop!” He shouted, and his voice echoed out into the school building. Ishida’s body froze perfectly still. Her eyes trembled and she stared unflinchingly towards him in fear. Ichigo stopped restraining her, and her body was stiff as stone. He squirmed out from under Ishida and took off into the hall. The floors were white and the walls black, the opposite of the school he knew. “This isn’t my school.” Ichigo thought to himself.

“Why don’t you just give up, Ichigo?” Murata’s suggestion felt heavy. “There’s no sense in fighting a battle you can’t win.” His words pierced into Ichigo’s mind.

“Say, Ichigo, why don’t we all just take a nap and stop worrying about everything so much?” Momoe was here too. She took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of purple smoke on the ground that moved with intent towards Ichigo.

Ichigo saw Murata’s eyes glowing purple in the shadow behind Momoe. He felt that stare weigh on him and the sorrow of a lifetime washed over him. It didn’t matter if he fought. He couldn’t win. He had no one. Then he remembered the sweet kiss from Seizon on the roof. For a moment Ichigo snapped out of his haze. The gas was fast approaching and Ichigo could only imagine what effect it would have, coming from the slothful Momoe. So he decided to copy her. He focused his powers and took a deep breath. He then blow a powerful gust of wind that forced the gas back towards them. Though it had no effect on Momoe, Murata fell to the ground unconscious. Ichigo ran towards them and while Momoe was distracted by Murata falling asleep, he shoved her out of the way and went down the stair well just beyond them. Momoe fell to the ground, and took the opportunity to go to sleep.

On the next floor, he ran into Satomi and Kaito. “Is everyone here?” Ichigo asked, exhausted.

“Everyone but that coward Fujiwara. It seems that even ‘his’ control isn’t enough to push Fujiwara towards danger.” Responded Kaito.

Satomi looked at Kaito, “You just want to tell him everything or are we going to do this?” She turned back to Ichigo and began to charge at him. Ichigo turned and ran away from her. Even at top speed it didn’t take long for her to catch up to him. Not realizing her situation, Ichigo managed to make himself immaterial in a panic, and she passed right through him. About 5 meters after that she plowed through the wall of the school building and flew outside. Ichigo turned around and started running towards Kaito.

Kaito placed both hands on the floor and shouted, “Loyalty is a force that binds us together. But when I take that force away, you’ll find how quickly things can fall apart!” The floor beneath Ichigo’s feet began to quake and then fall away in chunks, and then all at once.

Ichigo fell down into the rubble. He landed on the lower floor, and slowly started to pick himself up, holding one badly scraped arm. “All I want to know is where I am!” He said, gritting through the pain and coughing.

Once again, not expecting a response, Ichigo got one anyway. “Most likely this is a manifestation of your subconscious. A feeling of isolation, of rejection from normal society. People don’t understand you, and they hate you for it.” If Ichigo couldn’t see him, he would have known it was Shimizu anyway. “Tomoko, block his access to the door. If he wants to leave, then that’s currently his only exit.

Tomoko slowly started walking towards Ichigo with her hands out, strangely hunched over. “Come on, Ichigo, I just wanna be friends…” Though she was smiling, her eyes were wild and desperate.

“I don’t even WANT to know what YOU can do!” Ichigo shouted, and then jumped out the window.

Tumbling into a bush, Ichigo recovered, bet felt something sticky and hot. Then the sharp pain set in. He looked down to see a large piece of glass sticking out of his stomach. He started running as best he could. Everything began to blur. “Maybe… If I can just get away from the school…” Everything was begins to blur. It felt different this time. The world itself felt like it was falling apart. Ichigo could hear the footsteps again. They were slowing, growing weaker. Up ahead were the gates. Not much farther now. Then, from them came Saito Ryuma. “No.” Ichigo said weakly, stopping his advancement. “I tried… I tried…” He said, as he dropped to his knees. He looked up to the sky, seeing pieces fall. Like a shattered window, the sky starting falling down.

“Ichigo!” A light from the sky was shining like a beacon. It fell to the ground in front of him. Breaking the ground around her impact, Seizon ran to him. “I leave you alone for a few minutes and you go and start DYING on me?! You’re almost more trouble than you’re worth, stupid.”

“Seizon, you need to get out of here… I can’t…” Ichigo tried pushing her away but all his strength was failing him.

“I guess I could save you. Not that you deserve it. And don’t go thinking it’s because I love you or anything!” Seizon pulled the glass shard out of Ichigo with a spurt of blood.

“Ahh! What are you… doing?” He could barely hold onto consciousness.

Seizon placed her hand on his chest. “The next time you see this face, it will be for real. Sakurai Ichigo,” as she spoke her hand began to glow with white light, “I wish for you to live.” Nothing seemed to happen. Seizon stood up and Saito stepped up behind her.

Saito grabbed her by the neck, some black mist was leaking out of his eyes and surrounded parts of his body. “Filthy remnant.” His voice was deep and vibrated. Saito threw Seizon into a void of swirling black smoke.

“No!” Ichigo placed his hand over his stomach and concentrated. His wounds healed and his fear turned to rage. “What did you do with her?!”

“She’s gone now. As you will be.” Saito reached back, charging his fist in flames. When he struck out towards Ichigo, he simply caught his fist.

Ichigo pulsed ice from his hands right before Saito made contact. He caught his fist, and froze him in solid ice. “I don’t have time for you. I have to find Seizon.”

After defeating Saito and getting through the school gate, Ichigo saw a black beam similar to the portal that Saito had thrown Seizon into. He used the quickest route that he could. However, the falling sky had quickened in pace. Large chunks of burning black mass crashed into a corner store, taking out the fruit stalls out front and destroying the front door. Multiple times he had to dodge debris from houses and falling mass as he dodged in and out of alleyways. Finally he arrived at the origin of the light. It was a small house, far different in style then the ones around it. He felt a connection to this place. He opened the door and stepped through. On the other side was an endless sea of blackness. Not far ahead there was someone tied in a chair. Ichigo ran up to the person. “Are you ok?” He asked. But as he saw their face, he realized it was himself, with vacant eyes, staring into nothingness. Then everything began to swirl. When his senses returned to him, Ichigo was sitting in the chair, but this time he knew who he was. He remembered everything. He felt whole again.

“Welcome, Host.” That strange deep voice he had heard a few times before. A creature that seemed to be made entirely of black smoke formed in front of him. “Your resistance is surprising. When I shattered your mind, I did not think you’d be able to put yourself back together. I do not wish to kill you, Host.” It floated around him menacingly. “I simply need you to open a gateway.”

“Why?” This was all Ichigo could think to ask. “Why me?”

“The gateway must be opened. You are capable of opening the gateway, so this is why we are here. There is only one outcome, Host. Do not make this more painful then it has to be.”

“There’s nothing you can do to me that will make me help you.” Ichigo’s gaze was hard.

“Is that what you think? That I cannot hurt you? I have not tried, I’ve been gentile, Host. No longer.” A portal opened up and the creature reached a tentacle into it. It emerged with Seizon wrapped in it.

“Ahhh! Gah!” Seizon thrashed and struggled wildly against her captor. Shit bit at him, kicked and clawed violently.

“Disgusting remnant. This is what broke your shackles is it not? And as I saw, hurting this thing is what hurts you the most.” He began to squeeze, crushing Seizon. She screamed in pain coughing up blood as her thrashing slowed.

“No! Stop it! Please don’t hurt her! Not again!” Ichigo was desperate.

“Do you imagine this world is not real, Host? You would be correct in that. You are my prisoner, here in your own mind. I will, in time break you, and get what I want, and there is nothing anyone outside of this room can do to help you. And why would they want to, after what you did to this one.” He shook Seizon at him. “The real one anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Ichigo felt something in his gut. It felt like guilt.

“Look, into your own mind.” The creature waved another arm and a portal formed. Ichigo watched what played out in horror.

Ichigo was walking through the woods beneath a bright full moon. Next to him, a beautiful girl with long scarlet hair. A green hair band that matched her deep green eyes. She smiled at him sweetly. Then, the light shining on them began to turn red. They looked up to see a meteorite hurtling towards them.

Everything flashed and when his vision came back, Ichigo was struggling to get to his feet. One leg and one arm were badly injured. Blood was coming from the top of his head, coating part of his face. Then he heard it. “Someone please help me!” In the vision, Ichigo turned back and saw the girl lying under a burning tree, reaching out to him. The look in her eyes was one of pain and terror. It shook Ichigo to the core. “Ichigo, please don’t leave me!” She said as she reached out to him in desperation. In the vision, Ichigo turned and shuffled away. The vision faded.

“No… I couldn’t… no…” Ichigo was in shock at what he had seen.

“But you did, Host.” These are memories that transpired before I had my play of you. You let her die, and now, no one awaits you. So just give me what I want, and your suffering can end.” The creature gestured with a smoky clawed hand.

“Idiot!” Seizon yelled from her restraint. “Of course I’m not the girl you love.” She said, struggling defiantly against it. “I’m your survival instincts. Get it, Survival? Hahaha!” She laughed as the restraints were tightened.

“Silence remnant.” The creature was losing patience.

“You really are dumb, Ichigo. You think this thing would tell you the truth? You have your memories now, so why don’t you show us what really happened.” Seizon began to spasm as he body collapsed underneath the pressure.

“What happened?” Ichigo asked weakly raising his head.

Seizon spasmed and struggled to speak. Barely able to whisper out the words. “What happened… to… Nanami?” Then her body collapsed with a sickening crunch. Blood pouring from her mouth and eyes as the creature discarded her to the side.

“No. Nanami?” Ichigo felt that name reach into him and grab something he hadn’t realized was there.

“I will break you, Host! Now open the gateway!” The world around them began to quake.

The mist swirled and formed another image.

As the meteorite hurtling towards them, Ichigo turned to Nanami, his beautiful red haired girlfriend, and manifested a force to push her away into the trees. He then turned back to the meteorite and began to swirl his hands, using every ounce of energy he could. A black hole began to form in the air above him, sucking the meteor into it. It was almost gone when Ichigo felt his arm and leg snap. His body was giving out under the pressure of containing the suction. The black hole collapsed and exploded into a fiery blast, scattering the meteor into fragments across the forest. When his vision came too, Nanami was cradling his head. Her eyes, like her body was shaking with fear.  Fear that she would never see him again.  It pained Ichigo far more deeply than his wounds, to see her suffer so.  He'd give anything to make that look in her eyes go away.  “Someone please help me!” She shouted into the night. “No… Ichigo, please don’t leave me!” She said brushing the blood from his face. “Nanami…” He managed to say, raising his hand to her face. She kissed him, and everything went black.

“I never hurt her.” Ichigo realized she would be waiting for him.

“But I will hurt you, you wretch!” The creature reached back to crush him with his arm.

“No you won’t.” Ichigo said calmly.

The creatures arm passed clean through Ichigo, who stood up out of the chair. The ropes had disappeared. “What is happening?”

“Out there, I may not have much power. I honestly was always content not having it. As long as I had Nanami. As long as I could be there for her. But you tried to take me away from her.” Ichigo began to walk slowly towards it.

“I am in control here, Host!” He waved an arm and an army of shadow people raised from the ground.

Ichigo simply waved his hand in dismissal and they all disappeared. “You made the mistake of coming here. Maybe I can’t do much out there, but in here…” He said, raising his hand which pulsed in fire, ice, lightning shadows and then nothing rapidly. “It’s time for you to go now. Nanami is waiting for me.”

Ichigo reached back his arms and slowly pulled them forward. The darkness broke behind him leaving nothing but white. It was slowly forced in front of him where the creature was. Then Ichigo pulled his hand towards himself and the creature shrank to the size of a doll. “Goodbye.” Ichigo grabbed its arms with both hands and ripped it in half. The creature then disappeared into smoke. Ichigo opened his eyes in the hospital room to see two beautiful emeralds.

Ichigo and Nanami are walking down the street together at sunset. In the distance, Zaidan Academy can be seen. These simple mountain roads didn’t have much in the way of formal upkeep, but the natural beauty was something deeply appreciated by its local residents. “So all of our classmates were there?” Nanami asked. Her voice was soft and sweet.

“Yeah.” Ichigo said. “They were a little extreme, but they were more or less themselves. Maybe, them at their worst at all times. Haha!” Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. He felt so much better being back with Nanami.

“So,” Nanami asked, “was I there?” she asked coyly.

Ichigo hesitated, “Oh, uh… yeah you were.”

“Really?” She giggled, “ What was I like?” Their voices began to fade into the distance.

“Well…”

A few moments passed. “I was CRAZY?!” Nanami shouted loudly.

“What? No it’s not like that!”

“Is that how you see me?! Don’t you run from me! Get back here you jerk!”

In the distance, a star falls.  Followed by many more.  The heavens cry upon the Earth and all was silent.  For tonight, at least.