8Luke had no idea where he would stay for the night so he just kept walking around the town until he was too exhausted to keep going. It seemed as if this city never slept and he was beginning to think maybe he wouldn't be able to either. He sat on a bench near the road and began to doze off. He quickly came back to his senses when he noticed a creepy old woman sitting next to him and scooching closer. He began to scootch away from her and gave her a weak smile as he did, but the old lady didn't get the hint and kept coming closer to him. Then promptly decided to get up and walk away.
As he was walking he noticed that his gigai was getting a bit uncomfortable.
"I should be ok if I take it off for a little bit...what's the harm?" The black haired shinigami thought to himself. After he made up his mind he found a nice dark alleyway to slip inside where he could take his gigai off. Once it was off he was able to jump to the highest building to get a full view of the beautiful town. He sighed as his hungry eyes took in all of the bright lights and noises that came with it.
"This really is a beautiful little town…" Luke said to himself as he watched the humans. His admiration was cut short however when he heard a loud booming voice behind him.
"Yummy soul. I want to eat!" The giant creature yelled as it went to grab for Luke.
The small black haired shinigami's eyes grew bigger as his instincts kicked in. It was either fight or flight and it was very clear to Luke which one he was about to do.
"Ahhhhhh!" He screamed as he began to run away from the large beast trying to eat him.
Back in Ichigo's house Izuru and Momo had just arrived looked giddy as ever. As soon as Momo saw Ichigo she gave him a giant embrace.
"Oh Ichigo! You are the best! I can't believe you found him." Momo said cheerily as she squeezed the orange haired man tightly.
"Well I saw him earlier today….I don't know exactly where he went after that. He must've been wearing a gigai because otherwise I'm not sure how I wouldn't have been able to pick up on his spiritual pressure." Ichigo explained as he moved Momo off of him. The concerned mother listened intently to what Ichigo was saying and agreed about the gigai.
"But how on Earth would he know where to get a gigai from...and how would he even know to get a gigai once he's here...and how did he even get here-" Momo was cut off by her husband's hand covering her mouth.
"Thank you." Ichigo said while rolling his eyes. "Well there's only one person he could've gotten the gigai from…" The substitute shinigami said with one eyebrow raised.
"Hmmm? A little black haired kid with icy blue eyes….?" Kisuke asked and appeared to be thinking very hard about those particular details. "Tessai!" Kisuke yelled through his shop and out came the large man with the mustache and glasses.
"Yes?" He answered promptly.
"Do you remember us running into a little black haired kid with blue eyes?" Kisuke asked while tapping his fan on his face.
"Oh yes, the one that followed us through the portal and you made him cry." Tessai confirmed while nodding his head.
"Well there yeh have it. It looks like we did run into your kid after all Kira." Kisuke said in a nonchalant way as he yawned.
"How can you not remember?" Momo hissed at the man in the striped hat.
"I've got a lot going on, ya know?" He said as he turned to walk away from the three.
"And why did you give him a gigai?" Momo shouted after the man. Kisuke stopped in his tracks and without turning around answered her.
"So hollows don't eat him...but it would seem that your son is too stubborn to keep it on...so he might get eaten anyway." Kisuke stated in a grave tone.
This made Momo even angrier than she was before.
"What the hell are you talking about Urahara!" Momo yelled as she came marching over to him.
"See for yourself." He pointed outside to show her the scene of her son running from a hollow throughout the town. Momo gasped and sprang into action.
"Momo!" Her husband yelled after her and quickly followed after her.
Ichigo and Kisuke looked at each other and sighed.
"Should I go help them?" Ichigo asked his mentor.
"I think this is more of a family matter...they can handle a small hollow on their own." Kisuke said as he started to grab popcorn and a chair. "I'll just keep a close eye on them in case our assistance is needed." He said jokingly while stuffing his face with popcorn. Ichigo rolled his eyes and flash stepped away.
"Luke! Momma's coming my baby!" Momo shouted as she flash stepped over to him.
"Mom?!" Luke asked sounding relieved but also very confused. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Now is not the time for questions...believe me I have a lot to ask you, but for right now grab my hand!" She exclaimed urgently and put out her hand to him. He did as his mom told him to and then they were suddenly in Kisuke's shop.
"Huh?" Luke said as he realized where they were. He peered around and noticed Kisuke sitting on a lawn chair and eating popcorn.
"Hey I know you!" Luke said as he pointed to the funny looking man.
"Huh?" Kisuke grunted as he turned around in his chair. "Oh hey the little cry baby kid!" Kisuke waved.
Luke's face became red instantly and his eyebrows pulled together.
"Hey man I only cried once!" Luke scowled at him. His scowl didn't last long though because his mother pulled him by the shoulders and gave him the worst death glare he had ever seen.
"What were you thinking?!" She shouted at her son.
"I-I-" He started, but his mother quickly cut him off.
"Nevermind that question, it is quite apparent that you weren't thinking AT ALL!" Her voice only became more shrill as she continued to reprimanded her son.
"Why is she so angry?" He thought to himself as she went on scolding him. "I was only trying to make her and dad's life easier."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself young man?" She said in that motherly tone Luke hated. He didn't reply, instead he just stared blankly at his raging mother. This lack of reply seemed to only push her buttons even more.
"Do you know how irresponsible this was Luke Kira?" She asked him desperately. She was trying to at least prompt him to reply to her with a yes or no answer. "Answer me!" She said through clenched teeth steadily growing more impatient.
"I just…" Luke started barely audible. As his voice trailed off he stared at the ground debating to himself whether or not he should share the real reason he left home. It wasn't to cause trouble or stir up some crazy drama. The misguided teen kept thinking to himself, if he could only communicate his feelings to her properly then maybe she would understand where his impulsive actions were coming from.
"Y-you won't understand." He determined out loud as he hung his head in shame.
Momo's anger turned into concern for her son and she placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.
"How can I if you don't give me a chance?" She said softly as she brushed his messy black hair away from his face.
Luke felt his face become hot and he started to get choked up. He saw the effort his mother was making so he decided he would open up and tell her everything...for once.
The black haired boy took a gulp and took a breath. Then he released all of the thoughts and feelings that had been plaguing him.
"I have been a burden to you and dad since I came into this miserable world. All you two ever do is fight about me. I-I can't stand hearing the two of you go at it the way you do! It makes me feel like I should've never been born. I mean I really felt like no one in this world would even notice if I just disappeared! I have no friends and everything I touch becomes rotten somehow. I knew that if I just left everyone's lives would be so much better a-and I really thought maybe ...I could find somewhere to belong. You know? Fit in...I don't know, maybe it's just stupid. Maybe I'm just stupid…" The sadistic teenager looked down penitently. He didn't know how his mother would respond to the ugly truth he was sharing with her, especially his ugly truth.
Before his mother even was given a chance to reply to him, Izuru came into the convenience store and marched right over to the pair.
"What were you thinking?!" Izuru began with his arms in the air.
"Izuru." Momo said quickly. "Our son has felt alienated from us for years and we never even noticed." She slowly looked up at her confused husband with tears forming at the brims of her eyes.
Izuru's eyebrows pulled together out of confusion as he looked at Momo and then looked over at their son, who was still hanging his head with shame.
"W-what?" Izuru asked dumbfounded trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"He ran away because he thinks our lives would be better without him...we made him feel this way Izuru." Momo began to become hysterical at this point as she attempted to speak through all of her tears.
"Is this true?" Izuru asked his son sounding deeply hurt.
"I-If I tell you...you might hate me…" Luke said in a shaky voice while trying to hold back the tears welling up.
"Oh son, I could never hate you." The blond lieutenant replied sweetly. He went down to his son's eye level and smothered him in a tight embrace. "We love you so much Luke!" Izuru exclaimed.
"Yes we do my sweet boy!" Momo confirmed as she joined the hug.
"What a sweet little dysfunctional family." Kisuke said, his mouth filled with popcorn.
~THE END~