Disclaimer: Neither Bleach or assorted other references belong to me. This work is intended for its mere amusement value.
The old lady moved her cart down the alley. It was laden with the fruits of her garden: apples, grapes, and ripe squashes. She had been selling the produce on the street since after she had first arrived in the Rukon District countless years ago. She had been taken in by an old lady who had since…moved on.
"Hey grandma," said a voice from the shadows, "What'ya say handin' over some of those apples."
"Yeah," said a second voice, "those look mighty tasty."
"Better do what they say," said a third man, "I don't know what they might do for them."
"You hooligans will have to pay for them like everyone else," said the old lady.
"Hear that Ryoji? She thinks we should pay for them?" said the first man.
"Ha. She obviously hasn't met Ryoji before. Or else she would be glad we just want the apples," said the second.
The third moved into better light. He was powerfully built. His face seemed more like a beast's then a man's. It was scarred from countless fights and missing a couple teeth and the eyes were made of pure malice. "I will give you one more chance, grandma. Leave the cart or you will never leave this alley."
"You monster…" the woman started.
"Yeah, you got it. I'm a monster. You wanna see how much of a monster I can be?" the brute said.
A female voice called out from above. "You show me how much of a monster you can be and I can show you what a real monster is like," said a girl about in her late teens dropping in behind the three graceful as a cat.
She wore her red hair in a fashionable, short cut about halfway down her neck. Green eyes seemed to glow behind stylish glasses. Her outfit was almost entirely black. A black vest over a black dress shirt with a black skirt and black thigh high boots. Red was also in accompaniment, with a red tie and a red stripe on the skirt.
A badge was prominent on her vest. It had a red background with a black tower and a black bird clutching a black and gold sword flying over it.
"Get out of girlie, if you know what is good for you," said the first tough.
"No, you get out of here. And when you leave you praise God every day that you live that I have not killed the lot of you already," said the girl.
"What? Are you lookin' for a fight? You think you can take the three of us?" said the second tough with a look of bemusement on his face, "I think you need a new pair of glasses because you are sorely outnumbered."
"And you three are sorely outclassed. Now leave."
"You think you can fight me?" asked the big brute, "I have never lost a fight before. I can kill a man with my bare hands. I just squeeze the life from him…"
"A fight? No, this will not be a fight. It will barely be a warm up against incompetent apes like yourselves."
"Why you!" cried out the first taking a punch at the girl.
She seemed to move like a blur, catching the hooligan's arm midswing and driving down on it with her elbow. A loud and painful crack was heard and the man screamed in pain. The girl wasted no time in admiring her handiwork. She delivered a blow to the man's nose, blinding him as tears reflexively welled in his eyes, blurring his vision. A swinging kick sent him into a stone wall, finishing him off.
"Like I said, incompetent apes," said the girl looking at the two remaining toughs.
The second lunged at the girl, who calmly stepped aside and tripped him as he ran past. Her quarry was much larger. She nimbly dodged a hamfisted blow the large brute threw at her, ducking around it and delivering a thrust into the man's abdomen. She knew she had found her mark when he began sputtering and choking, doubling over in pain.
"Never lost a fight? Well then let this be a first," she said, delivering a two fisted slam onto the base of the man's skull, knocking him out instantly.
She turn to face the second who was stumbling to his feet from the fall.
"Who are you?" he asked, fear in his eyes, "What are you?"
"I am Aveline Wilhelmina von Ravenstein. And I am the Margraven of Ravenstein, Graven of Neuravenstein, and Countess of Summersford," she said.
The man felt the weight of her words through his suddenly frail form. He had no idea what a Margraven or Graven was, and he had no desire remaining to find out. Flight was the only thing that could come to his mind. He bolted into the street.
The old woman considered the girl for a moment, "What payment do you need for saving me?"
"None," said Aveline, "I fulfilled my duty."
"Your duty? What sort of duty?" the woman asked.
"I am a Lady of a noble house. It is my divine duty to defend the weak," Aveline stated plainly.
"And who tasked you with such a burden?"
"God," said Aveline, "And it is not a burden. It is an honor."
"You should be a Soul Reaper," the old woman pronounced, "You have the commitment to be one."
Aveline looked at the woman with a puzzled expression, "What is a Soul Reaper?"
"Death. And justice," the woman said.
Aveline looked at her, "Go with God. Be safe from evil," she said.
The woman nodded at her savior and continued pushing her cart into the street.
Aveline stayed in the alley, staring at the wall. It was now that she realized a truth that had evaded her for so long, yet was painfully obvious.
She was dead.
Aveline stared into the night sky over the strange town. The constellations were different. The people were different. Everything was different. She remembered being on the streets of London and then suddenly she was here. Where was here?
Someone had said Rukon. What was that? Where was heaven? Where was Saint Peter, his pearly gates, and all that jazz? If she was dead, why was she here?
The roof was three stories up. Climbing it was no problem. Sir Everett White and his training had seen to that. Sir Everett had supposedly learned every combat style on Earth. He had been one of Aveline's favorite teachers. She could outfight near any person on Earth in almost any traditional fight imaginable. Part of his training regimen involved being able to climb sheer rock faces bare handed. Climbing a wooden inn with plenty of handholds and footholds proved no difficulty.
Thinking of this caused her to picture Sir Everett: rugged, experienced, and never handsome. What would he say now? Same thing her father would say, no doubt. "Why wonder where and why you are here? Focus on what you are going to do now that you are here."
"Sound advice," Aveline thought, "but small comfort. You two weren't dead when they would have said that."
"And how does that change things, Milady? You died. So what? That is in the past, you can't change it no more then you can change what you ate for dinner last night," the Sir Everett in her mind said.
"I had some bread," Aveline replied, "Pretty lousy after life where you have to eat."
Sir Everett shrugged, "You still can't do anything about it."
"What are you going to do now?" asked her father.
"I don't know," thought Aveline, "I don't know."
Aveline must have said that last one out loud because a voice called out, "What don't ya know?" It was a boy, somewhere between a tall seven years old or short nine years old, "Are you lost?"
Aveline sat up. "You could say that," she said, "but I think I am more then a little lost."
The boy scampered over to her. "I was lost too when I first came here," he said.
"What do you mean?" Aveline asked.
"I ended up here after I died. I didn't have my parents or my brothers or my sisters. I was all alone," the boy said.
"How…sad," Aveline said. What kind of terrible afterlife was this world?
"I was sad for a bit. But the lady who owns this inn, she is really nice. She lets me stay here and I help her with the inn," said the boy, "And there are a some more kids here, too."
"So there is kindness in this world after all," Aveline said.
"Lady, can I ask you something?" asked the boy.
"Sure," Aveline said.
"Are you the one who has been beating up all the bullies and bad guys around here?" he questioned.
"I have been stopping them, yes," Aveline answered.
"Thanks," he said, "those guys were really bad. And the Soul Reapers rarely come out here to try and stop them."
There was that word again, Soul Reaper. "What is a Soul Reaper?" Aveline asked.
"Soul Reapers are really strong fighters that make sure souls like you and me are sent to the Soul Society safely," said the boy.
"Sorry if I am asking too many questions, but what is the Soul Society?"
The boy looked at her with a confused expression. "All of this is the Soul Society," he answered.
"So the Soul Society is the afterlife, huh?" Aveline said, "Is it what you expected?"
"Well, I didn't think about it much before I…well…died," the boy said, "I don't remember much about being alive. Most of us try not to think about it too much."
"Not me," Aveline said, "This is not what I expected the afterlife to be like. And I don't want to forget about my life. I don't want to forget any experience I have. Speaking of which, what's your name?"
"Takumi Ebihara," said the boy cheerfully, "How about your name lady?"
"Aveline von Ravenstein," she said, "That will do for now. But most people called me Avey."
"So are you going to keep fighting those bad guys, Avey?" the boy asked.
"Yep. It's the right thing to do," she said.
Takumi's face lit up, "Thanks Miss Avey, your's the best!"
"It's nothing," Aveline said, "My father always said that when in doubt, do what you think is right. And I think protecting you and the others living here Takumi is the right thing to do."
Takumi climbed back inside the inn. Aveline looked back up at the stars again and smiled. She knew what to do now. This was a pretty disappointing afterlife. Maybe she could make it a little better.
The big gang leader with the sword continued yelling, "Let that BITCH that has been humiliating my men step forward and get what's coming to her!"
He and seven of his strongest gangers had come into town this morning and started making an awful racket. Aveline was studying him from a rooftop. Eight to one odds were not very favorable, she thought, they should have brought twice that many so I could at least break a sweat.
She drew her sword from it's scabbard. She hated this sword. It was a katana. She hated Katanas. They were good for slashing but not for thrusting. And they required a lot of room to use properly. And they tended to be brittle and crack easily. Not like how Hollywood or television made them out to be at all.
Still, it was better then nothing and Aveline was proficient in the blade's use. She had even named it Aspire, as in 'I aspire to get a better sword'.
The blowhard was still at it. "If she doesn't show up at the count of ten I am gonna cut this girl!" he said.
Aveline looked out over the ledge and he had a girl, about twelvish, by the hair with the sword at her throat. That complicated things. She had to remove the hostage situation from the scenario first without risking the girl.
"One," he said.
Aveline huffed quietly. She had an ace up her sleeve to deal with this but she had hoped to have been able to keep it on the low down for a bit longer. After all what good is having a fallback surprise if everyone knows about it?
"Two," he continued.
Fortunately the man was right handed and Aveline was to his right. If she could disable his arm he would drop the sword and the girl could escape.
"Three," he yelled.
Aveline crept into position across the rooftop.
"Four."
Just a bit farther.
"Five."
Aveline studied the angle.
"Six," said the man, looking around nervously.
Aveline decided it was about right.
"Seven! I mean it, bitch! I will cut her!" he yelled, the girl starting to tear up and shake.
No you won't, thought Aveline…
"Eight."
…not on my watch.
"Niiii…", he started. He never finished nine. His attention was grabbed by a burst of sound from his right. He didn't see what caused the burst either.
Aveline fired a concentrated bolt of energy into his arm at the elbow. The joint was powdered by the impact. Reflex caused his hand to open, dropping the blade.
"Duck and rollout of the way!" Aveline yelled at her, leaping off the roof. She needed something to break her fall and so aimed at the nearest of the gangers.
Aveline slammed into him knees first. Knocking him down violently. She quickly drew her sword and slammed the hilt into the side of the man she had landed upon's head.
"Taking little girls hostage. What despicable animals you are," Aveline said, flourishing her sword. Intimidation could be a very effective tactic against undisciplined combatants.
The first charged her and took a swing at her with a sword. His movements were slow and clumsy at best and Aveline easily parried his attack. Aveline delivered a powerful chop to the base of his skull, knocking him out could instantly.
"Do you creeps know what I do to animals? I butcher them," Aveline continued.
The two yonger ones in the back seemed to have lost their nerve and began fleeing. Let them run.
"You won't get away with this," said a strong looking one to her left, lunging at her with a club. Aveline dodged his clumsy attack and took advantage of his distraction to make her own charge at the two as of yet unengaged toughs. She tripped the first with a kick to his leg and grabbed the other by his neck and flipped him onto his back.
"What was that?" the club armed attacked asked in astonishment.
"Your doom," she said, driving her palm into the man she had just flipped's check, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending him into a coughing spasm. Even in the hereafter the human body seemed to function much as it in life.
"Hey!" said the man, dropping his club, "Using the girl wasn't my idea!"
"Your inaction and silence condoned it, animal," Aveline said, punching the man she tripped and was now getting back up in the face, putting him down for the count. "I suggest you use these next few seconds to pray to whatever god would show a beast like you mercy, for I shall show you none."
He started running. Aveline blasted him in the back with a wider focused blast, blowing him into the building, shattering the poorly built structure. She doubted he would be getting up any time soon.
After her work was done Aveline sheathed her unbloodied blade. She walked over to where the leader was writhing in pain . His right arm was a mess. Those energy blasts Aveline used could shatter stones with ease. Aveline doubted that even if he would survive the next few minutes the arm would ever fully heal.
"Are you going to kill me?" asked the man.
"No," said Aveline.
"Then what are you gonna do to me?" he asked.
"I am going to hand you over to them," she said, gesturing to the crowd.
Fear crept across the man's face.
"For too long this brute and his lackey's has abused and exploited you. Now let justice be done upon him," said Aveline. She grabbed the man's tunic and tossed him roughly in front of the crowd.
"Did you feel that Iori?" asked Kenshiro Mizumi.
"Yes. It felt like a very strong burst of spirit energy," said Yosuke Iori.
"Do you think that it could be some kind of…invader?" asked Kenshiro.
"Well, I have never know someone from Rukon to possess such strong spirit energy," said Yosuke.
"We need to tell the watch officer," said Kenshiro, "This could be trouble."
The five new workers were rebuilding the shack that had been destroyed in the fight yesterday. Until very recently they had been petty hooligans and thieves. It was day one of their sentence to work for the town for ten years. Aveline had spoken with the elders on that matter. Several had wanted to kill the six men. But Aveline had dissuaded them from that.
"Why destroy more lives when they could be better used to rebuild lives?" she had said, "Wouldn't that be a more fitting punishment?"
In the end the elders had agreed and meted out the punishment. Aveline felt that good had been done.
Their leader however, was not so lucky. Aveline did not stop the elders when they sentenced him to death. People who threatened children deserve everything that they earn.
Aveline sat on a nearby rooftop as the night was falling. She was watching the stars come out. The constellations were strange; none of them matched with the starcharts for the northern or southern hemispheres of Earth. It was maddening. Aveline had really enjoyed astronomy.
What was even more maddening was the 'cuisine' of the locals. It was always rice maybe with some kind of meat. And nobody here had even heard of bread pudding.
"What is bread pudding?" asked Takumi.
"What?" responded Aveline.
"You keep mentioning bread pudding. What is it?" Takumi asked again.
"Oh, I was talking out loud was I?" Aveline answered, "Well, it's a desert made from bread, sugar, syrup, eggs, and fruit. The most delicious food you will ever eat! So warm and filling. It is like heaven in a bowl."
"Sounds good," Takumi answered.
"Good? Good does not begin to describe it," Aveline said.
"You'll have to tell the lady who runs the inn about it. She might be able to make some," suggested Takumi.
"Maybe," said Aveline.
"But that is not why I came up here," said Takumi, "I came up here to warn you."
"Warn me? Of what?" inquired Aveline, "It better not be more bullies. Trouncing the likes of them gets rather tiresome after a while."
"No. Soul Reapers," said Takumi, "Rumor is that they sensed you using those blasts of spirit energy and are worried about some kind of threat to the Seireitei."
"Seireitei. That's the walled off place the Soul Reapers live, right?"
"Yes."
"Why would they think I am a threat?" asked Aveline, "Not like I have any plans to storm their fortress or anything. Yet, at least."
"That was a powerful release of spiritual energy yesterday. They think you are some kind of invader," Takumi said.
"Spirit energy? You mean my energy blasts?" asked Aveline.
"Yeah, those blasts of spirit energy."
"Those are nothing all that special. I have been able to do that for years. Well, before I died that is," said Aveline, confused.
"What? You could use spirit energy before you came to the Soul Society!"
"Yeah. I do other stuff too. Like this," said Aveline as she formed a glowing ball of light.
"That's…that's…amazing," said Takumi, "My friends and I have been trying for years to do that."
"Really? It's not that difficult. You just kinda focus and concentrate," she said.
"Can you teach us to that?" asked Takumi, excited.
"Well, sure. Although I don't know how much help I would be," Aveline said, "I have never taught anyone anything before."
"Okay, just stay away from the Soul Reapers!"