Hey everyone! I will be updating this story as often as I can, so if I don't feel free to comment or send me a message and I'll let you know when I am expecting to be done. Hope you like my story!
-Few things to know before you read-
Chana is pronounced "Shahhna" in case you wanted to know.
This still happens in the same universe as the anime except there are 14 squads instead of 13.
*I use English dub terms in this story, unless I get a lot of reviews telling me they want the Japanese terms, I won't change it. So go write them reviews! ;D
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the Bleach anime or manga. I do not own Bleach the events or the characters I include in my story that are from the anime.
CHAPTER 1: That night…
My name is Chana Kurokawa. I am a Soul Reaper. This is my story.
I grew up in District 79 of West Rukon. I was there for many years with my family. I had a mom and a dad, two brothers and a little sister. We were so happy there, even with the terrible conditions. We didn't have much food, but we managed.
Since I came to the soul society at 10 years of age, I was the oldest child. So, I often took my brothers out to play in the woods or in town. We got in trouble often, but it was always fun. I loved my family so much, even though they weren't my real one.
One day, I brought my brothers into town to steal some food from a vendor. The easiest one to snatch some food from was an old man selling fish on an empty street. He wasn't located far from our makeshift hut we called home.
The three of us waited around the corner, spying on the old grump. He didn't have any business, the main reason because most people didn't need food in the soul society. I had very high Reiatsu, much more than my family did, so I often was given most of the food.
While deep in my thoughts, I noticed a young woman walking up to the fish stand. It was time to make our move. We ran across the wall, hoping the man we were running towards wouldn't see us before we snatched his products.
I managed to grab a couple fish from beside him and started running, assuming my brothers were right behind me. When I turned the corner, I saw my youngest brother, Rin, turn behind me. But my other brother, Akio, wasn't with him.
"Where's Akio?" I asked in panic. Rin shrugged and I quickly jerked myself around the corner to see Akio with a blade against his throat. The old man was going to slit the throat of my brother.
Before I knew what I was doing, I rushed towards them. The vendor and I made eye contact. I shivered, then burned with anger. He was not going to hurt my brother. I wouldn't let him.
"Leave him alone!" I said reaching out towards him. I grabbed the man's arm and he quickly jerked it back. He looked at me strangely.
"You burned my arm bitch!" He said. He charged at me with the knife and I narrowly dodged it. I was shocked. I looked back at my brothers, they trembled in fear.
"Go!" I cried. I saw the two boys run, I didn't blame them for leaving me. In the Rukon District, everyone put themselves first. It was everyone for themselves. That's the way we lived.
The vendor wrapped his arm around my neck. He was going to break it.
"How do you feel now? Huh? What's it like, knowing you are going to die?" I felt wetness on my head. He spat on me. I was enraged.
I lifted my leg and kicked his balls. He let go of me in pain, and stepped back a few steps whimpering. He fell to the ground. I grabbed an armful of fish, and ran.
"Chana!" Akio yelled, a smile across his small face, as I walked into our home. His little feet scurried across the ground. He jumped up and hugged me.
"Hey guys," I said. I dropped the fish on the table "I guess we all get our own fish tonight!"
I went outside to go light a fire. The sun was setting. The soul society was starting to fall asleep. I looked to my left. Our home was at the top of a hill so I would always look out and see the tall Seireitei peeking out from behind the other districts. I often wondered what it was like in the Seireitei. They always had food. They had strong shelter. They had purpose. We had no reason to live. We just stole every day, to keep our meaningless existence alive. We were worthless in the end.
"Chaa" said a voice behind me. It was my litter sister, Kiyoko. Her long black hair almost reached her feet now. She died 5 years of age and had recently come to the Soul Society. We adopted her into our family three weeks earlier.
"Hi Kiyoko, did you have fun with mommy and daddy today?" I asked, crouching down to her level.
"Yaa, we pwayed by the stream! There were fishes!" She said. I could see the twinkle of excitement in her eyes. She was everything to me since we first met. I decided I would do anything to keep her safe.
In total, my family consisted of six. Myself, Kiyoko, Akio, Rin and our parents, Ayaka and Kenta. We had all decided to take on the last name "Kurokawa". This was about a year ago, when I came to the Soul Society.
The fire started warming up the area around it. I could feel the flames like blankets on my skin. They felt comfortable. I stared at them, I was drawn to the warm light that blew in front of my eyes.
"Chana," a voice called, "Have you started cooking the fish yet?"
"Oh, ya I'm putting it on the fire now!" I replied. Kiyoko had disappeared, she must have gone inside when I wasn't watching. I placed four fish on some wooden sticks we collected. I stuck the wooden ends into the ground, pointing the fish into the fire.
I looked back into our home, everyone was laughing. Rin and Akio were yelling at each other, Rin pointing a finger at Akio. Kiyoko and our parents giggled at the sight. I smiled. This was what I loved about my family. We could still have a good time, even while being so poor.
I could see the moon coming up from behind the forest that surrounded our home. The bright white glow lit up the now dark sky. The rays reflected off the leaves like little mirrors. The light danced around me. I felt so calm that night.
A breeze whistled through the trees. The fire rustled. One of the fish fell over. I quickly brushed off the side and propped it back up. We could not waste anything.
I looked closely at the fire. I could see sparks flying to the side every so often, then disappearing in to the ground. The skin of the fish slowly started to turn brown. I watched as one turned a deep shade of black.
A gust ran through the area once more. This time, one of the fish fell forward, directly into the blazing flames. I panicked as the golden bush of light slowly engulfed the food. Without thinking I reached out into the flames to retrieve it.
I expected a sharp pain and my hand burned to ashes. But, the warmth felt comforting. It slowly danced around my hand, flowing around it like water. I quickly screamed and the flames snapped. My hand was burned on the edges.
I had always been attracted to fire, it has always been there, even though I had never noticed before now. I had a connection with the flames, like they were trying to tell me something. I picked up the end of the stick, peeling the charred fish out of the fire. I knew that one was cooked through.
Pulling the other sticks out of the ground, I could feel another breeze passing through. This was quite a windy evening. I left the fire to set the fish inside. As I walked towards the empty space we called a door, I picked up the small pail we found one day a few months ago.
I made my way over to the stream near the edge of the forest. It had come in handy many times before when we had to put out campfires. I crouched down and placed the pail in the water. It slowly filled up with water.
I walked back over to the glowing fire and poured the water on top. The blazing flames. I watched them bubble to ashes. All that were left was some warm ashes, dimly glowing then turning white.
I carried the bucket inside and placed it by the door when I found it. I sat at the table, which rested so low we all sat on the floor every night. Everyone had taken a fish, of course I was left with the burnt one. A smile cracked onto my face. I didn't mind getting the worst one, I was glad everyone else got a good piece.
"Hey Chana, so when will you join the soul reaper academy, huh?" I jerked my head up. My father was always asking me that.
"I'm not going to." I replied, my head sinking down again. My eyes met the black fish once again.
"Why not Chana? You have a lot of spiritual energy! You'd be great!" Rin said, jumping into the conversation.
"I just don't want to…" I said. To be honest, I was scared of dying. I was scared of getting hurt and dying in battle. I was scared of not being good enough to fight.
"Chana, think of the way you'd be able to live there! You would get the food you need, you will have amazing shelter. It would be so much better for you, you deserve it!" my father said. He would never let this go, no matter how much I told him I wouldn't go.
"I won't do it." I said, "Besides, I can't leave you here to fend for yourselves. How would you get food?"
I put on a fake happy act when saying that. This conversation always made me feel uncomfortable. I was too scared of the 14 Court Guard Squads. The people, the Seireitei, they all seemed so different.
"Alright, if you say so." father sighed. He had given up for the day.
We finished eating. For once, we weren't hungry. We went to bed full, for probably the first time since we all met. I went outside to douse the fire with water once more, to make sure it wouldn't start burning again while we were sleeping.
I crouched down once more, scooping up the glass-like water into the bucket. I heaved it over to the stone circle. I could still see small cracks of light glowing in the heap of white ash. I poured the cool liquid into the circle. I noticed some drops trickling out between the small stones. The water spread out from the fire, wetting the grass around my bare feet.
"Hey Chana, you should go to bed." said a voice, my father's voice.
"Alright father, I'll see you in the morning then." I held the handle in both my hands and slowly walked past him.
"You should really become a soul reaper." He said. I stopped. Here we went again.
"I'm being really serious this time. Soon, we won't have enough food to keep you alive. The rest of us can live without any food for months and we won't even feel the effect. You deserve better. Don't worry about us, I mean it. We all want you to go."
"I… I just don't want to…"
"Don't be scared Chana. Don't be afraid of dying. You are a strong girl. You would make a fine Soul Reaper, my little girl."
I walked away, clutching the bucket. I could feel tears trying to break free. I didn't want to leave my family, I didn't want to leave them…
I slowly laid down on the ground. I could see Kiyoko on the other side of the room, her face so peaceful in her deep sleep. I remember her small torn pink dress, and her long black hair that stretched across the ground that night. I remember it as clearly as the day I decided to become a Soul Reaper.
Coughing. The coughing woke me up. As my eyes peeled open, a bright light blinded me. I thought it was the daylight. I was mistaken. I wish I wasn't mistaken that day…