STOP ME WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH

Okay, Not Today

The sky is gray, the wind cold. Karakura has been experiencing intense rains from the hurricane that hit the coast yesterday. It wasn't anything entirely out of the normal. It's raining season without the hurricane, anyhow. The summer day carries on like the weather hasn't gone bad.

Kurosaki Masaki carries her umbrella in one hand, and her son's hand in the other. She's humming a song stuck in her head, the melody as loud as the rain. Her son, Ichigo, is only nine, his big eyes on her as he listens to her hum. He wonders what song it is. She always hums the same one, but never tells him what it is.

Neither speak. The thunder and unknown song is enough to fill their void of sound. Masaki's presence brings peace for Ichigo. He feels relaxed, even as the thunder rumbles louder, and lightning starts to flash its way through the sky. He watches the lightning, finding it pretty. Nothing is wrong. How could it be?

"Ichigo!" Masaki suddenly screams.

He glances up to see she's no longer next to him. That's odd. Where did she go? He searches for her, and pauses when he realizes he isn't where he was before. Instead of the sidewalk his mother and him were on, he's now next to the raging river. It has risen from all the rain.

"Mom!" Ichigo calls over the roar of the river. "Mom!"

A snapping branch prompts him to turn to the river. Standing there is his mother. But something is wrong. She's wearing a cloak? When did she get that? Her strawberry blonde hair curtains her face, leaving Ichigo cautious.

"Mom? What's happening? When did we get here?" Ichigo starts to whimper when she doesn't answer. "Mom, I'm scared. Can we go home?"

"She can't hear you," booms a deep voice.

He whips his head around, searching for the voice. A towering figure appears beside his mother when he wasn't looking. He's big, covered in fur and wears a mask. Is it made of bone?

"Who - who are you?" He stutters.

The figure let's out a loud rumble of a laugh. "Not important."

"Then what do you want?"

"Your soul."

Ichigo's gut drops, and a chill goes up his spine. He turns to run, but bumps into his mother. He still can't see her face through her hair.

"Mom?" He whimpers.

Finally, she gazes up at him, her hair moving out of her face. He gasps, stumbling back. Her eyes are pure black with rings of gold in the center. Blood tears run down her face, dripping off her nose, and getting in her partly open mouth. Red blooms on her shirt, right in the center of her chest and it doesn't stop.

"You fool. You'll never be who you want to be. You'll never be good enough to be my son. You're pathetic!"

"Mom, what's happening? Why are you bleeding?" Is all Ichigo could think of to say. What else could he say? Stop being a meanie head? Her eyes are bloody! That's all that matters right now.

"You were supposed to save us all! Why didn't you save us! Save me?"

He inches away as she stalks forward, her sharp teeth bared. She looms over him, and brings her talons to sight.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!" She brings back her clawed hand. "DIE, BOY!"

He braces for a hit that never came, eyes screwed shut. He cautiously peeks through his eyes to find a dark, empty street. Where is he? Instead of being in a yellow raincoat, he's now in a black shihakusho, too. When did he change clothes? And age?