There were a lot of complications with dates and years, and so since the beginning of the anime would be in around May according to Kubo and I decided that it should be set in 2016 and so, the Prologue is set 130 years prior, which is 1876.
Prologue: It's Cold
*1876 (130 years before the beginning of the anime) *
*? POV*
Scrambling to my feet as I gained consciousness, I scratched my head as I gazed upon my surroundings. I was alone in a place that seemed deserted, not knowing where I was or who I was only knowing my first name – Akira – it wasn't very helpful but at least I knew a bit of myself. All I had was a dagger, it had a small red hilt with snowflakes covering it, perhaps this was mine.
I looked at myself in the reflection of a puddle, wearing a navy-blue kimono, which was ripped at the hem, and reached just above my knees. My hands and legs were covered in dirt, perhaps for lying unconscious for, Kami knows how long, and my blue locks reached down to my waist. I took in my features, knowing that they would stay with me forever even if my memory didn't. I had chocolate brown eyes, a small nose to fit my face and a slightly tanned complexion. It seemed as though I was a child as I took in my appearance.
I racked through my brain, any explanation for why I was here. I saw a beautiful woman, she had long brown hair and brown eyes, she picked me up and span me around. Oka-san.
A man suddenly offered me food, he was slightly taller than the woman, he had dark blue hair and green eyes. Oto-san.
There was also child, older than me with dark blue hair and brown eyes, just like me, he came towards me laughing. Nii-san.
I tried to remember anything, their names, something but I was met with the same dagger in my hand, yet in the possession of another. Suddenly, I saw an ocean of blood pouring onto my small palms as it leaked through my organs, I felt my heart beating, my lungs failing, the air barely finding its way into me, barely keeping me alive, I felt another pang into my chest and all the air in my lungs abandoning me, leaving me and yet the blade never left me.
I had died and I was now in what I supposed was the after-life. I shivered thinking about how I was standing even after being murdered, and unknowingly I gripped onto the dagger tighter.
I was alone.
That was until I heard a sudden noise followed by crashes from inside a run-down house nearby, I decided that maybe there was another person like me, lost.
I rummaged through the dilapidated house until I was face to face with a boy, who was getting beaten up by two very large burly men. I hid behind a wooden wall as the two men continuously hit the boy with pieces of metal and wood, whatever they could get their hands on. Seeing how helpless the boy was, I remembered the only clear memory of my past life. How I was mercilessly beaten and died, I wasn't going to let that happen to him, he's not going to die as I did, because this time I could be strong and fight back.
Quickly as possible, I picked up a wooden pole and attached a sharp piece of metal to it to make it similar to a spear, and I hid my dagger in my kimono just in case. I didn't know where this sudden knowledge came into me and told me what to do, where did it come from, and how much do I know about weapons and killing.
Silently, I ran towards one of the perpetrators and stabbed him in the stomach as he crippled in pain. The other one – Ugly 2 – lunged forward and hit me with a wooden beam that was in his hands. Fortunately, I didn't lose my balance, and I quickly got my dagger out of my kimono and stabbed him repeatedly in the stomach, kicking him away. Panting, I reached for the boy and lead him outside of the house, I didn't know where to go but anywhere was better than with those two. When I thought that we had gotten far enough from that house, I stopped walking and looked at the boy. He looked slightly older than me, he had piercing black eyes and hair that was tied up, he had a quite a lot of scratches and bruises on his face and arms, and he was wearing white clothes, which were ripped.
"Who are you?" He asked me panting, his voice shaking.
"I think my name is Akira." I replied, my voice raspy, before realising that he was glancing at the blood that dripped from my dagger. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
"I see. Since you saved my life, I will trust you enough to tell you my name. I am Byakuya, Kuchiki Byakuya. And thank you for saving my life." He told me.
"Your trusting me just because I saved you and told you that I wouldn't hurt you? What if I only saved you so that I could have some money?"
"Well, after seeing you fight and the fact that you told me that you weren't going to hurt me after I looked at your knife to reassure me, it seems as though you don't want to kill me as if you did, then we wouldn't be having this lovely talk as I would be dead." Byakuya told me.
"Dagger."" I told him.
"What?"
"It's a dagger – not a knife."
"How would you know?!" He asked me. "I've studied weapons for a long time, and that is not a dagger."
"I just know! Even if it's the only thing I actually know." I exclaimed, but I released that I don't actually know.
"What do you mean? 'It's the only thing you know'." He asked me, looking in the eyes as if urging me to tell him."
"Well, just before I rescued you, I actually woke up with no memories. Just this dagger in my hand and I know, that this is a dagger, it's the only thing I remember and I'm not sure why?" I told him, specifically leaving out the part of how I died, but everything else was true. Why is it that out of everything that happened in my life, the only thing I had to remember was my death and this dagger, why?
"A dagger it is. You gave me such a compelling argument; how could I disagree?" Byakuya replied, smiling. "Since you don't know a thing about this place, you should follow me I'll take you somewhere safer, where we won't get ambushed." I complied and followed.
"But you're hurt?" I asked Byakuya, stopping him in his tracks. "You have so many bruises and probably even some fractures! We have to rest for now, at least until you get better."
"No! We're in the 79th District of North Rukongai, Kusajishi. We are in a very dangerous place, as I'm sure you already know. We have to find a safer district to stay in before we make our way to my house, in the Seireitei."
"Wait! You're taking me into your house, why?" I asked him incredulously.
"Yes, you saved my life and you have nowhere to go and no memories and only a dagger to protect you. You'll die again if you stay here." I shuddered at his use of the word 'again'.
"I can't disagree with you, but what's the Seireitei?" I asked to which he sweat-dropped.
"I'll give you all the details later, but what you do need to know I that there are 80 Districts and the lower the district number, the safer and closer it is to the Seireitei, we are in the 79th District, and we have a long journey ahead of us."
We walked and walked, and walked and walked for days on end without rest, but I got hungry so quickly – which Byakuya told me was rare - that we had to stop a lot of times to buy food, luckily Byakuya had money to buy food. The last time I asked Byakuya where we were, he told me that we were in District 54, and we had been walking for at least 3 weeks.
"Where are we now? And can we rest?" I asked him, my legs were barely supporting me now.
"We are in District 32 now. I was able to find us a shortcut from 79 to 54 but I don't know of any shortcuts here that could lead us home. And no, we can't rest yet." He told me, and I could tell that his patience was running thin as I asked him the very same question only a few minutes ago. Over the few weeks that I've known Byakuya, I've come to learn quite a lot of things about him like the fact that he had an extremely short temper and that he was the only son to a noble clan. He trusted me, and I trusted him now but I wasn't ready to tell him about my death, perhaps when we reached a safer place I would tell him.
Heyy,,, hope you enjoyed the prologue, although the prologue will probably confuse you (or not idk) but it will come in handy later!
Axoxo
