Unknown District of The Rukongai - 5:43 P.M. - Sunday
The alleyway was quite frankly disgusting. Trash littered it, along with grime made of who knows what. Breathing was hard, as the smell was atrocious. The must of a few people inside stinking up the entire length of the alleyway. Even though it was bright outside, the alleyway was almost dark due to the many tents and shacks set up there, most of them empty.
Alongside the wall, in between a couple of shacks, sat a boy. No older than 13 in appearance, but the way his eyes sunk into his head, and his skin stretched taut over his bones made it hard to see his true age.
He felt someone talking above him, he didn't pay it any mind. His breath was hoarse, his throat dry, achingly so. The last thing on his mind was whatever the hell those randoms were talking about.
And then, he saw the food and drink offered before him. He looked up, seeing a woman in purple hair and black skin tight clothing, along with a smaller girl next to her, in the same clothing but darker black hair.
"Does this catch your attention?"
The purple haired woman spoke, but he paid her no mind once again. His attention now lies purely on the food, his eyes widening in ways they hadn't in a long time. He could feel his tongue working overtime to try and fail to produce saliva. However, as his hands reached to grab the food, he hesitated, oh how badly he wanted to grab it, but he couldn't.
He looked around, seeing the other people look at him with greed, hate, anger, any emotion that was negative as they looked at him reaching for the food. He pulled his hand back, bringing his eyes back down. If he took that food, he was dead, he knew it, and though he'd probably die if he didn't take it, he'd rather die starving than be mauled by hungry souls.
"Are you afraid of them? Don't worry, I'm a Soul Reaper. Take it."
The purple haired woman spoke up again, looking down at him with a soft smile. Before he could take it however, the other girl spoke.
"Are you being serious Yoruichi? Why are you down here feeding these souls? Surely we could spend this time training instead? This is a waste of time, and effort. He's going to die anyway."
The purple haired woman, now dubbed Yoruichi, ignored the little girl, instead offering the food and drink to the boy once more. Now, with her reassurance that no harm would come to him, he grabbed the food surprisingly fast for someone who looked on the brink of death, eating with a haste unbecoming of a human.
"Easy there, slow down, food's not going anywhere."
She said as he choked from trying to eat too fast, the other girl scoffing at the display. However, the boy kept going, eating the coughed up food off the ground and finishing the rest of it. It was only a sandwich and some water, but for him, it was more than that, much, much more than that.
"What's your name kid?"
He looked up to her as she spoke, little crumbs still on the sides of his lips. He hesitated to answer her question, not out of mistrust, but simply because he was trying to remember.
"Psh, I'm getting out of here. This place stinks. I'm gonna go train."
The other girl left, looking back at Yoruichi for a second before turning the corner and leaving. He watched her leave, not giving her or her words much thought before looking at Yoruichi once more.
"Kishin. Nagamochi Kishin."
He said slowly, every syllable spoken with a silent doubt.
"Kishin, would you like to come with me?"
She outstretched her hand, her brown skin glinting in the sunlight that peeked through the blankets outstretched above.
The boy looked up at her, into her eyes, before looking back down at her hand. Slowly, hesitantly, the boy wrapped his bony hand around her full one, nodding his head.
-_-
Shin'ō Academy - 5:51 P.M. - Sunday
They sat down on a couple of chairs, waiting for the man who said he'd come back once Yoruichi walked in with the boy. The room was moderately big, with many people sitting down at desks working on different kinds of paperwork. In front of them sat a counter, along with a bell.
However, before the boy could observe the room further a man came into the room along with the one from before.
"Captain Yoruichi, what can I do for you?"
The man asked, before his eyes fell upon the slender boy. In a second his eyes changed, and he looked back up to Yoruichi.
"You feel that too right? I need you to take him, teach him, make him a Soul Reaper."
The boy looked up to Yoruichi as she spoke. What were they talking about?> What did they feel from him? And most importantly, make him a Soul Reaper? Him? He couldn't believe it.
"I understand. I haven't felt such pressure from a boy in a long time. Much less from someone not of the Great Clans."
Yoruichi nodded at the man's words, before looking down at the boy once more.
"Become a Soul Reaper, that's how you can pay me back for that sandwich. Understand?"
The boy nodded, looking up at Yoruichi with shining eyes. Was he dreaming? Was this really happening? However, he didn't get much more time to think as she disappeared in an instant, leaving him alone with the man.
"Jeez, her Shunpo is the real deal alright. Come, let's get you to a dorm. What's your name kid?"
Kishin felt the man grab his hand, and followed as the man led him outside the building through a door on the side.
"Kishin. Nagamochi Kishin."
He said, looking around at the kids of all ages as they walked through the multiple buildings that encompassed the campus.
"You can call me Principal Yaga."
Yaga looked down at Kishin, seeing him nod at his words, but taken by the amount of people and the extravagance of the school.
"There's even more during school hours, these are just the ones who stay after to for extracurricular."
They continued to walk through the school, and Kishin watched as the Principal interacted with most of the kids they walked by. He began to wonder what exactly his new life would look like, and began to think of Yoruichi. He didn't even thank her, he then thought of what she said when she left. He knew if he did want to thank her, he'd have to pass this school and become a Soul Reaper first.
"Here we are."
Kishin was cut out of his thoughts by Principal Yaga's voice; they had arrived in front of a door labeled 231.
"This is your dorm. You'll receive a schedule in the morning, until then, be kind to your roommate, and have a nice night."
The Principal began walking off, Kishin looked at the dorm, before turning to the retreating man.
"Thank you."
He said to Yaga. Yaga turned around, giving the boy a smile.
"Don't thank me, it wasn't me who brought you here, I'm just doing my job."
He replied humbly, giving Kishin a wave before turning and leaving, disappearing around the corner. Kishin looked back to the door, he was slightly nervous, but otherwise okay.
It had been a long time since he had lived with someone, the last time… he shook his head, discarding useless thoughts. He would be fine, this was the start of a new life, he would be able to eat food, have a bed, and even bathe. He would leave his life behind, and forge a new one, and the first step to that life was behind this door.
He reached out, grabbing the knob of the door and twisting it, opening the door. What greeted his vision was almost blinding, the walls were all pink, the bedsheets, the pillows, everything.
"Ugh, who are you?"
He heard someone speak from the bed, he almost didn't see them because of the vibrancy of everything else. He looked at them, they were wearing a white and blue uniform, reminiscent of the Shinigami uniform. He had black hair styled into a bun, with a golden hairpiece holding it together.
"Kishin, Nagamochi Kishin. Your new roommate."
Kisin answered, wondering what this guy's deal was with pink. He'd never seen so much color before, much less so vibrant.
"Roommate? Oh you can't be serious, there has to be a mistake. You sure you don't got the wrong room"
Asked the boy, and Kishin was slightly off put. Did he not want a roommate? To be fair, Kishin could understand it somewhat, he was arriving to the school late after all.
"Nope, Principal Yaga brought me here himself."
"Ugh, great. You get the top bunk, but let me get my stuff off there first, don't want your grubby hands on it."
Answered the boy, and Kishin watched as he got up from his bed, and began removing the pink bedsheets, covers and pillows from the top bunk, adding them to his own bed at the bottom bunk.
"Where are mine, and you never gave me your name."
Kishin said, looking around the room and failing to spot any sheets or pillows that belonged to the bed originally.
"Nowhere, I burned them, so you're gonna have to get new ones tomorrow, along with your uniform. And don't worry about my name, scrubs like you don't need to know it."
Kishin narrowed his eyes at his tone, but otherwise ignored it. He dealt with people like him before, you had to living in the Outer Districts of the Rukongai, and the best way to deal with them was just to leave them be.
So Kishin climbed atop his bunk, lying down on the bed. Honestly, he didn't have any problems lying down on it, bedsheets or not, it beat the rock solid concrete floor any day, and he was just thankful he didn't have to lie on that again.
Hours passed, and the moon shone into his dorm through the window. He couldn't sleep, he kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable in the very soft bed, yet he just couldn't. Slowly, trying not to wake up his rude roommate, Kishin climbed off the bed, lying down on the floor.
Instantly, he got comfortable, sighing as he realized adjusting to this new life would be more difficult than he thought. However, as the comfortableness set it, his eyes began getting droozy, and slowly, darkness overtook his vision, and he fell asleep.
Shin'ō Academy - 6:00 A.M. - Monday
"Wake up idiot, your stuff is here."
He felt a kick to his abdomen, startling him awake. He opened his eyes, seeing the boy look down at him from above with a snarl on his face.
He saw the boy shift his gaze to the door, and when he followed it he saw someone with a folded up uniform in their hands, along with a paper and a sword.
"Now Shiju, you shouldn't kick your roommate awake."
Said the man, giving Shiju a stern glare.
"Psh, like I care. I'm heading to class, outta the way old man."
He pushed past the man, disappearing behind him.
"That boy… Anyways, Kishin. Now that you're up, here is your uniform, along with your schedule and Zanpakuto."
Kishin slowly stood up, massaging his hurting abdomen and blinking his eyes groggily. Slowly, he reached out, taking the aforementioned items.
"Zanpakuto?"
Kishin asked softly, running his bony hand along the scabbard's length.
"Any questions you have about it can be answered in your classes. Specifically, Zanjutsu, or Meditation. And Kishin?"
Kishin brought his gaze up from the sword, looking up to the man.
"Welcome to Shin'ō Academy."