Picking up where we left off, Chad charges at an armed and ready Shunsui. As his arm builds up with power, Chad thinks to himself, Ichigo, I’ll take this guy down. This may be at the risk of my life. If I can survive, I’ll be the one to make the vow this time – of the same promise from that time, with the same words from that time.

Cue flashback...

(Retro Intro page – Middle school versions of Ichigo & Chad on a building roof, looking ready for yet another fight against unseen opponents. Words cannot express their utter cool-ness.)

Back in time, Chad lays against a grassy hill that leads into the river, just lazing about and fiddling with a gold coin on a chain around his neck. A voice calls out, "Why are you spacing out like that!? Chad!"

He cranes his neck back far enough to see Ichigo standing on top of the hill. "...It’s Sado," Chad reminds him.

"Enough with that gag already!" Ichigo snaps back. "It’s a good thing that I happened to be nearby this time. If you keep being like that, you’ll get seriously injured! You’re so freakin’ strong, so why don't you do anyhing whenever you get caught up in trouble!?"

Chad looks away. Apparently, Ichigo saved him from a group of punks earlier when he did nothing to save himself. Now he has to explain his inaction. "...I made up my mind," Chad sits up, grasping the chain on his neck, "I don’t swing my fist for my own sake... it’s a promise I made with Abuelo."

"Abu... wassat?" Ichigo asks.

"'Abuelo,'" Chad explains, "It means 'Grampa.' His name’s Oscar Joachin De la Rosa."*

"What nationality?" Ichigo asks; kind of weirded out by the foreign name.

"Mestiso. Mexican," Chad says. "...Before I came here, I was in Mexico..."

Ichigo is a bit skeptical, "Didn’t you say at your self-introduction last month that you were a native of Okinawa?"

Chad looks up at him from where he sits, "...Did I?"

"You did!" Ichido insists. "Aww, man, whatever. Every freaking time you say whatever’s appropriate! If you keep that up, I won’t save your ass next time!"

Chad smiles and laughs in that quiet way of his. Ichigo walks down the hill to him and notices the coin Chad keeps fiddling with. "Say, you always have that thing around your neck... is it important to you?"

"...hm?" Chad looks down at the coin with a nostalgic smile, "...Yeah... it is. It’s precious... probably worth more to me than my life."

Ichigo silently looks away with an ‘oh-kay, whatever’ expression on his face. He plops down next to Chad and says, "...That looks like a foreign coin. Where’s it from?"

"Mexico," Chad grins.

Ichigo shrugs, "Shit."

Eventually, Chad stands up, brushing himself off, "...Let’s get going? Two guys talking by the river like this is a waste of time, isn’t it."

"Huh?" Ichigo notices something odd when Chad stands. Something is hanging perilously from the back of Chad’s belt. "Y’know, there’s a cell phone caught on you. Who’s is it?"

"...hm?" Chad apparently didn’t even notice it was there. "It’s probably one of the gang members from earlier..."

The cell phone had gotten caught on his belt by its strap and had been hanging open the whole time. On the screen of the phone, unnoticed by the boys, the display reads Call Time 21 mins 50 sec.

"...I’ve got no choice," Chad says, "It’s troublesome, but I’ll go return it..."

"Throw that crap away!" Ichigo viciously kicks it into the air, shattering the phone. Chad watches helplessly.

However, they aren’t the only ones who heard the phone break; the one who was listening in on everything from the other end of the line is none other than the leader of the defeated gang. His other gang members are sitting around him - or still writhing in pain from the fight earlier.

Later on, Chad is walking to school listening to music on his headphones and thinking, ...neither is a lie. I was born in Okinawa and went to Mexico. That’s all. My parents died young and I had no other relatives, so my Abuelo in Mexico adopted me. I was 8 years old.

His thoughts turn to a younger version of himself, he looks defensive with his fists clenched, At that time, I was a pathetically spoiled child who used his huge size to knock down opponents at the slightest provocation.

He remembers his grandfather, a big man with a mustache and a hat with the brim shadowing his eyes. Grandfather is smoking a cigar and the coin necklace is around his neck. Chad ponders, Abuelro was the one who always vigorously scolded me. Thanks to Abuelo, I seriously brought myself under control. Even if I thanked Abuelo so much that it tears at my throat, it wouldn’t be enough.

With his headphones on, Chad doesn’t notice the guys sneaking up behind him...

I really was so pathetically spoiled back then, he thinks.

...these sneaky guys also happen to be armed with tazers.

I was so pathetically careless on this day.

The snap of electricity rings out. It's followed by Chad’s grunt of pain.**

Next thing Chad knows, he’s tied up in a chair under a cement bridge. He’s surrounded by a gang.

Today is the same as yesterday, he realizes as somebody punches him in the jaw. Even a monkey could figure out by now that it’s a bad idea to walk alone.

He silently checks the ropes that bind him to the chair, Wire, huh... they’re pretty thick... it doesn’t look like I can cut through them easily...

"Ha! It’s all over for Chad of Mashiba,"*** the gang leader sits back, watching his cronies mess up Chad. "How do you feel? It hurts so much that you’re gonna let loose, huh? ...If it hurts, will you let loose?"

Chad looks up, "Well, it seems I can’t for now. Sorry."

Gang Leader Dude (a.k.a. ‘Yokochin’) damn near blows a casket when he hears this. He stands up, "Ha! Is that so... well how about this, huh?" he reaches for the coin on Chad’s neck.

"I know about this. You said it’s more precious than your life." To Chad's horror, Yokochin yanks the necklace off, breaking the chain. "The gift from Mexico that’s even more important than your life, isn’t it? Well, if this is gone, then all you will do is die."

Yokochin holds up the coin in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other hand. "Die," he grins maniacally, "Moro~n."

Wham! Someone’s sneaker (with foot attached) slams right into Yokochin’s face, sending the gang leader straight into the river. The other guys watch this in panic, "Aah! Yokochin!? Yokochin!!"

Yokochin sits up out of the water, yelling at his guys, "You... bastards... how many times do I gotta tell you... don't call me ‘Yokochin’!!"

It doesn’t matter what they call him anymore, because the sneaker returns to stomp his head under the water. As you may have guessed, Ichigo did it... and he’s got awesome sneakers, too. ;)

So Ichigo grabs the gold coin out of Yokochin’s outstretched hand, "Hey, thanks."

Behind him, the gangsters point and yell, "It’s Kurosaki Ichigo of Mashiba!!!" Ichigo pays them no mind and those guys get pissed, "Hey!! What are you ignoring us and rummaging through Yokochin’s pockets for!!"

Chad watches from where he’s tied up, "...Ichigo...!"

"Oh, here it is," Ichigo flips open the cell phone he took from the unconsious Yokochin and dials a number. "Ah, excuse me, please send an ambulance over."****

The gangsters are still yelling at his back, "An... Ambulance!? Bastard, you worry about Sado before you even fight with us, huh!! Don’t underestimate us!!"

Ichigo is still on the phone, "The place is Nishitoriya 2nd street, under the bridge of the Onose River. The number of stretchers," he pauses and points to each ugly gang member in turn, counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

Ichigo grins coldly, with the cell phone to his ear, "5 stretchers."

"Bastard!!!" the punks charge at him. Ichigo tosses the phone over his shoulder as he sprints right at them.

Chad watches as Ichigo gets caught up in the bloody fight. All the while, Ichigo’s words overlay the scene, "Right, you won’t do this, Chad. Just like you’ve always done up till now, you don’t have to hit anyone for your own sake. In return, please hit for my sake. I will hit for you. If there’s something that you would give your life to protect, then I’ll protect it with my life too."

Ichigo is laying on his back, unconscious punks are scattered around him. He cranes his neck back to look Chad in the eye and points up at him seriously, "It’s a promise."

Chad bends forward as far as his restraints allow him, so he can meet Ichigo’s eyes. "...All right..."

That’s right. Back in the present, in Soul Society, Chad is charging towards Shunsui. It’s a promise.

Chad’s eyes narrow in determination, So, I cannot lose! The energy from his fist is overflowing, uncontrollable.

Shunsui stands there, swords drawn, waiting for him.

No, Shunsui is already behind him, his short sword completing its arc. There is a horizontal slash across Chad’s chest which leaves a dark trail behind.

"Sorry," Shunsui looks back at him sadly.

Chad is frozen in place as his chest erupts in a spray of blood.

>_<

*Don’t quote me on the ‘Hawkin’ part of Grampa’s name. It’s pronounced ‘ho-a-kin’(????) in Japanese, so I took a lucky guess. EDIT: Thank you for the help, dosetsu! ^_^

**Ouch! It’s a good thing that those Shinigami he fought earlier never thought to use tazers... >_<

***Mashiba Middle School is the one that Ichigo and Chad attended back then. Since certain fighters and gangs are known to be from certain schools, they refer to each other as "so-and-so of school-name."

****By the way, in the parody of this scene Ichigo calls for 4 pizzas instead. Then Chad asks him to get 8 more because he’s really hungry. HAHAHA! XD

Notes:
-The Chad/Ichigo friendship is so awesome. Everyone needs a buddy to watch their back! Battle buddies!! XD

-So from the age of 8 to 14, Chad lived in Mexico? I wonder what that was like (other than the fighting, I mean)...

-I wonder why Chad doesn't wear his gold coin anymore... maybe he's learned to keep it in a safe place. Has he worn it in past volumes? Hmm...

-In the special pull-out poster, it shows the white-haired 13th captain who (as far as I know) only appeared in vol.3 during Rukia’s flashback scene. Ooh, mysterious...!

-Overall, this week only progressed 2 seconds into the main story. On the other hand, I now know more about Chad than I ever thought Kubo-sensei would reveal. I love back-story chapters!! ^_^

-The ad for next week says that Ishida and Orihime are going to encounter a Captain too. I wonder who it will be... wanna take bets? ;)

~*~*~
By the way, I'm still trying to think up good ideas to make soul_society more interesting to participate in, any suggestions?

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