Soichiro almost reflexively rolled over when he woke up, and found himself sprawled face down in the dirt. For a moment, he was disoriented and confused, then the events of the last day or so flashed through his mind. He tried to stand up and, to his great surprise, a hand reached down to help him up. He grabbed it, appreciating any help he could get. He was shocked to find this hand attached to a tiny child scarcely reaching above his waist. She was about 3 and a half feet tall, with a cute, round face, a messy shock of bright pink hair, and a big mischievous grin. She wore a black kimono that reached all the way to her feet, and she had a tiny katana dragging on the ground attached to her belt. She shook Soichiro's hand, and said, "Hi Mister! What's your name?"
Soichiro was too flabbergasted to answer for a second. He slowly said, "Soichiro... Soichiro Yagami is my name. I'm the Chief of Police of Tokyo." She smiled cutely at him, and said, "That's such a nice name, Chiro! Mine's Yachiru. Wanna meet Kenny? He's really cool! He lets me ride on his back!"
Soichiro was still surprised at what he had just seen and heard. He couldn't comprehend everything that had just happened. Before he could respond, Yachiru took matters into her own hands and dragged Soichiro with remarkable force and speed towards the other side of the park. He stumbled trying to keep up with this tiny, mysterious girl. She reminded him of Sayu, which sent a shock of pain through him. He could feel his family's pain all over again. His eyes were tearing up, and he was surprised at himself. He was frustrated at his own emotional weakness. He had to remain strong. He couldn't keep pitying himself.
Soichiro was shocked out of his contemplation by Yachiru's exclamation, "Look, Chiro-San! There's Kenny!" She pointed towards a massive figure in the distance. "Kenny," whoever he was, was really tall. He had spiked hair, what seemed to be an eyepatch, and, as Soichiro got a better view, what seemed to be numerous scars on his face. Once Yachiru stopped, Soichiro bent over, coughed, and gasped for breath. His chest hurt from running this long. He never should have taken up smoking... As he rose from his bent-over position, he saw a giant of a man. He looked tall from far away, but up close, he was definitely enormous. He towered at about 7 feet tall. He wore similar garb to Yachiru, and also had a large white cape draped across his back. He had a rough face, with a long scar across the eye that wasn't covered by the patch. His long, jet-black hair was formed into dozens of spikes, each one tipped with...a bell?
Yachiru seemed un-intimidated by this huge guy, jumping onto his shoulder effortlessly. "Kenny, this is my new friend, Chiro! He's really nice!"
"Nice to meet you." Kenny growled. "Ah..nice to meet you too," Soichiro stuttered. He had never felt this intimidated by one person before.
"My name's Kenpachi Zaraki. Yours?"
"Soichiro Yagami."
"Why're you so scared, Chiro? Kenny doesn't bite," Yachiru explained. "He looks a little scary, but he's really nice!"
"Got quite a lotta spiritual pressure, don'cha? You'll be comin with us," Kenpachi said gruffly. He wrapped an enormous arm around Soichiro's shoulder and shoved him along. "Going where?" Soichiro questioned, surprised. "Seireitei, silly!" Yachiru answered, cheerily popping up from behind Kenpachi's shoulder.
"And what, may I ask, is that?"
Kenpachi answered this time. "Seireitei is where good souls go after they leave their bodies."
"And what about the others?"
"Oh, those go to Hell." Yachiru responded chirpily. So he was a good soul. That was some comfort.
Kenpachi suddenly stopped, and pulled a katana from it's sheath. Soichiro spun around suddenly, jumped backwards, and reached for a gun he didn't have. He started panicking. He couldn't run. He was rooted in place by fear. He slowly kneeled down, resigned to his fate. Kenpachi gave him an odd look. "Why so scared, Chiro? Kenny won't hurt you!" Yachiru squeaked, giving him a pouting face.
Soichiro looked up and saw the figure of Kenpachi Zaraki towering over him. He felt a weight on his chest grow lighter. He looked at the chain attached to his chest, and saw about half of it suddenly rusting into a fine red dust. He breathed sharply in, and said, "All right, Zaraki. Do whatever you have to. I trust you." He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, savoring the crisp spring air. He felt something hard slamming into his forehead. He gasped, opened his eyes, and saw Kenpachi and Yachiru kneeling over him. He was on his back. Everything slowly faded to whiteness. A soft, clean white, like clouds in a summer sky. Soichiro could no longer sense anything. -
As he blinked his eyes open, the first thing that met his sight was the sun. He squinted and turned around. He saw a clump of grass, and a dandelion tickling his nose. He tried sitting up, and immediately regretted it. His back ached terribly. He just plowed through the pain, groaning. He had been through worse. He looked about, realizing that he was in a fresh green field, and that the sun was beating down on his head. He leaned back, resting on his elbows, and taking in the sights and sounds. He heard a dog barking in the distance.
After about 15 minutes of this, Soichiro decided that just sitting here wasn't going to do any good. Besides, he felt stir-crazy. He craved human company. With some effort, he stood up and brushed himself off. His clothing had changed, and the chain attached to his chest had disappeared without a trace. He touched the spot where it had been. It felt entirely normal. He was now wearing a navy blue hakama, a pure white gi, and a pitch black obi. He looked about him. To his right (east?) there were some rural houses. Up north there was what seemed to be a bustling town. To the west of that there was another town, ringed by a massive wall. Something told him that Kenpachi was most likely to be found to the west; he decided to travel in that direction. He stumbled down the hill. When he was at the bottom, he looked again towards the walled city. Was this Seireitei? He wondered. Soichiro was walking slowly with his hands in the pockets of his dark blue hakama when he glimpsed a figure approaching at lightning speed in the distance. At the same time, he noticed an enormous shadow covering him. It stretched out for a good 15 feet. Soichiro turned around, gasped, stumbled, and fell backwards. What he saw was more terrifying than Ryuk could ever be. It resembled Ryuk in coloration (black body, white head) and had a face that bore a disturbing resemblance to a human skull. Its body was spindly and black, reminding Soichiro of a spider. -
Just when Soichiro thought that he was done for, a tiny figure rushed past him, something gleaming in its hand. "Yachiru! No!" Soichiro shouted. Yachiru didn't answer. She simply flew towards the monster, katana in hand, slicing it clean in two. The Hollow (for that was what it was called) screeched terribly and disintegrated into tiny blue particles. Yachiru turned around and grinned at Soichiro's shocked expression. "See? Piece of cake!" Yachiru chirped. "Wh-what was that...thing? A Shinigami?"
Yachiru wrinkled her nose at Soichiro. "No, I'm a Shinigami! That thing was a Hollow. Hollows are bad. That's why we Shinigami fight them."
Soichiro was silent for a moment.
"Where's Kenpachi?"
"Oh, he's in Seireitei. I'll take you to him!"
Once more, Soichiro found himself being dragged along by Yachiru. As they arrived to the gated city, Soichiro's suspicions were confirmed. Yachiru pushed open a gate, and entered, along with Soichiro. He was amazed by the huge, bustling city that was filled with who seemed to be hundreds of Shinigami, of all appearances. Most were human, while some looked not quite human. One had a disturbing face that seemed to be painted in a black and white pattern. Soichiro quickly averted his gaze. Yachiru pulled him along towards a building that resembled an old-style karate dojo. The tiny Shinigami opened the door and Soichiro found himself inside a dojo with tatami mats, and about 10 Shinigami sitting down, waiting their turn to spar. Kenpachi and a bald Shinigami with odd red markings at the corners of his eyes were sparring with wooden swords. Another Shinigami with bright red hair tied back into a ponytail motioned for him to sit. He leaned in close and whispered to him, "New here, ain't ya?"
Soichiro nodded.
The Shinigami gave him a hand to shake and told him, "Nice to meet ya. Name's Renji Abarai, lieutenant of squad 6. You?"
"I'm Soichiro Yagami, chief of police of Tokyo."
"You're really new here, eh? Still talkin as if yer in the human world? What squad you in? Squad 11?"
Soichiro didn't know how to answer. "You ain't in a squad yet? Mmmm... That's OK. You'll find your place soon enough."
Soichiro murmured to Renji, "What squads are there?"
"Well, there's Squad 1, that's the elite squad, squad 2 is the stealth force, squad 3 are a bunch a pansies, squad 4 is the med squad, squad 5 are the intel division, squad 6 is my squad, squad 7 is pretty good all-round...squad 8 is a bunch of slackers...squad 9 is the security for this place, squad 10 gets all the paperwork dumped on em, squad 11 is Kenpachi's squad...they're combat crazy, squad 12 is the R&D division, it's headed by some freak who's always experimenting, and squad 13 is Ukitake's squad. He's a real softy, but don't underestimate his fighting ability."
"But...aren't those Shinigami squads? I'm not a Shinigami..."
"Ya aren't? Well, I shoulda guessed, seeing as you don't have a Zanpakuto."
"Zanpakuto?"
"It's a fancy name for a Shinigami sword. Every Shinigami has to have one."
"How would one go about getting a Zanpakuto?"
"Ahh, now this is the interesting bit. You don't just 'get' a Zanpakuto. The Zanpakuto chooses you."
Soichiro mulled over this for a moment.
"How come you mistook me for a Shinigami at first?"
"Well, your Reiatsu greatly resembles a Shinigami's."
"My...Reiatsu?"
"Yeah, that's like your spiritual fingerprint. Everyone has a unique Reiatsu. Shinigami and non-Shinigami have different types of Reiatsu. Your Reiatsu is definitely that of a Shinigami. A strong one."
"Can you sense my personality from my Reiatsu?"
"Sure as hell can. You're a confident person, you want to protect those you love, you're proud of your son, ya don't mind injury or death for a good cause, you believe in the importance of following the law in word and spirit, and...you've never killed or purposefully injured a single soul in your life. How's that?"
Soichiro pulled back from Renji. "How...what...you know...everything about me!"
"It's plain as day. You don't lie, you don't cheat, you believe in the inherent goodness of people, you suspect your son of maybe, just maybe being a mass murderer..."
"Stop! Enough! That's too much! That isn't right!"
"Your Reiatsu doesn't lie."
In Soichiro Yagami's mind, thoughts were tumbling. (I know he isn't Kira, he can't be, I don't suspect him, he has to be innocent, he's my son, MY son goddamnit, I can't think shit like this about him...)
Renji smirked. Soichiro threw his head back and sighed. "You're right, as much as I hate to admit it."
"Next set: Renji Abarai, lieutenant of Squad 6 vs. Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Soul Reaper of Karakura, Japan!"
"That's my match. Good meetin ya...Soichiro."
"You too, Renji." Soichiro called after him as he strode into the ring. "Fancy seein you here, eh Soichiro? Ya don't look like the kinda guy for a fight, so I guess you're coming here 'cause li'l Yachiru here dragged you along. Am I right?" Kenpachi grumbled. Soichiro nodded. "It's bout one o'clock now, so I'll be getting back to work, and Ikkaku here," at this, he pointed at his sparring partner, "will show you round. I'm willin to bet you'll make a one in a million Shinigami, Soichiro."
Soichiro felt himself swell a little with pride at being called one in a million by a squad captain. However, he humbled himself, and said, "That's too kind of you."
"What, ya think I'm bullshitting ya? I never do that kinda thing. Ya really are special, Soichiro. I'm glad I got my hands on you before anyone else did."
Soichiro simply bowed and thanked Kenpachi. Ikkaku sauntered up to Soichiro after Kenpachi left and gave him a wide grin. "We got a fresh guy here, eh? Let's show you the ropes."
For about 6 hours, Ikkaku gave Soichiro a tour of the Seireitei, and the other districts outside the Shinigami military town. They stopped for lunch along the way, in a tiny restaurant that gave Soichiro an acid-sharp memory.