覚えておいてください死にます (Oboete oite kudasai shinimasu)
Or in a language more familiar:
Memento Mori
Prologue
:-:-:-:
Death is an interesting thing. In a moment, one ceases to exist in the realm of atomic particles, physics and otherwise four-dimensional space. Or so some hypothesize. After all, 'dead men tell no tales.' Do we cease existence entirely? Is death merely another great adventure so long as we have a well organized mind? Regardless, the point is we can't possibly know until we die.
At least in reality. Fiction is a wholly different ball game. If you had asked me if I wanted to join a fictional universe post-death, Bleach would not have been my first choice. I honestly would have chosen something like My Little Pony, though I must say Pokémon would be my first choice. Yep, I said it. Go ahead and laugh. Somewhere the conflicts were trivial, nobody fought seriously to the death and people just enjoyed life. The point is, a relatively serious shonen manga is not the peaceful afterlife I wanted, even if I knew the plotline and the general mechanics said universe operated on inside and out. What a drag.
My first post-mortem sensation was touch. I felt the soft grass underneath my fingertips, brushing against my face and my toes. Which was a distinctly odd feeling, as I knew I had been wearing shoes when I died. But here I was, having apparently face-planted and wearing a loose pair of karate pants and a changshan shirt with a black haori over it. Which struck me as off, because why the hell would I be wearing a Chinese shirt in an otherwise clearly Japanese afterlife? But on closer inspection, upon closer inspection of the texture, color and patterns, I kinda understood. It was rusty brown, with golden and red dragons across it. It was...mine. Or at the very least an exact replica of the one I had when I was alive. All of my clothes were.
From a theoretical perspective, what a soul wears should be influenced by the soul when it passes over, similar to your own mental image of yourself. Since I figured I was somehow stuck in Bleach from the moment I got sent over by a shinigami, I suppose I subconsciously called up my Asian clothing to not stand out as much. Of course, I have zero proof for my theory aside from my own speculations, since such things are never discussed in the manga or anime.
Speaking of which, I'm not totally sure which I'm in. Nor am I sure which is better. The filler material from the anime could be beneficial, or not. Either way, I have no way of knowing without finding out where exactly I am in the timeline. Best case scenario, I'm concurrent with the year I died, meaning I'm past all the serious action, as apparently the Quincy Blood War took place in 2003, and Kubo said it was the final arc. Worst case, I'm anywhere before that and Aizen and/or Kurotsuchi decide I'm a great test subject, Yamamoto decides I'm a threat or a Quincy kills me.
See? This is why shonen manga are fun to read, but not fun to be part of. A roar from my left alerted me to the danger just slightly too late. A massive set of claws raked my chest as I leapt back. That's gonna leave some scars if I live through this bullshit.
Another look around me would have me face-palm in any not life or death scenario. Apparently this hollow, as it must be, had been hiding here for a while, as the area was littered with various trinkets and trophies. Clearly I have failed a spot check.
Since my survival chances were pretty low anyway, I stupidly grabbed the first weapon I could. The lizard hollow can't have been terribly smart, as it gave away its attack earlier.
As it swung its spiked tail at me, I met it with a thrust of the metal bō. Not my smartest decision, but I just needed to hold it off until I could disengage and run. On the other hand, I do know some bōjutsu, so I was in better shape than if it had been a katana.
Another swipe was deflected as the battle raged on. Okay, perhaps battle is stretching it. It was really just me trying to avoid being hit, which was working out pretty well. Unfortunately, my torso wound is taking its toll.
The last thing I remember before I passed out from cumulative blood loss is a shinigami captain defeating the hollow in one fell stroke. Show off.
Disclaimer: Still don't own the rights to Bleach.
Authors Note: So I finally decided to write an SI-fic. I mean, why not? So here we go. If I hit Sue territory, for the love of all, tell me, though I'm gonna try avoiding that. *crosses fingers in hope*