Bleached Ichigo

Bleach Manga Chapter 18: 6/17 op.2 “Can’t Smile Don’t Blame”

Tatsuki sits in Orihime’s room and recalls the first time she met Ichigo at the karate dojo. He was very young and cried a lot when he was beaten. Yet Ichigo’s face would always light up with a big smile when his mom came to pick him up. But that would all change.

The Kurosaki family walks together up towards their destination, as usual Ichigo’s father tries too hard to make things more lively. At the top of the hill, they spot a girl waving at them. Ichigo recognizes that it’s Rukia and quickly drags her away to have a little talk. Rukia’s excuse is that she needs to be near Ichigo in case a Hollow attacks. She also asks Ichigo if his mother was killed by a Hollow who was attracted by Ichigp’s high spiritual density but mistakenly targeted his mother instead. Ichigo flat out rejects that notion, but he suddenly sees a familiar figure at the top of the hill and rushes towards it.

Tatsuki continues her story and reveals that Ichigo’s mother died when he was only 9 years old. After his mother’s death, Ichigo started to skip school. Tatsuki would see him often at the river bank where his mother died, wandering from morning till night, searching for his mom.

Rukia finally catches up to Ichigo, but the figure he was chasing disappeared. Ichigo reveals to Rukia that it was not a Hollow that killed his mother – he was the one who did it.