Chapter 2
Koji woke up slowly, his eyes were still closed as he was unwilling to relinquish the comfort he was feeling. He felt more warm and relaxed then he could ever remember feeling. There was no rough bark, no itchy grass and no tweeting birds. Instead he felt like he was in a cocoon of comfort. All the aches and pains from living rough for the past week were gone. Koji's brain was still in a sleepy daze as he lazily went over these new facts. They seemed unimportant. Koji's eyes fluttered open and yet he didn't find himself in a new place. He instead found himself in his familiar autumn forest, his friend standing at the centre with a small smile on his face.
'Koji' the man greeted. A small smile on his face 'I think that its time you learned how to defend yourself. Your dagger has been taken and you are defenceless in a new place.' With that two swords appeared in the man's hands. He threw one of the swords to Koji. With reflexes Koji didn't know he had he caught it in his hand. It was heavy and his small arm dropped with the weight of it, the sword thudding to the forest floor. 'Well that is a bad start Koji.' the man said with a smirk on his face. 'Come now, I know you can do better than that.' Koji brought both hands to the hilt of the sword and hefted it upwards, mirroring the state that his friend held before him. It was heavy but he was stubborn enough to kept it held in the right position even as his arms quivered with the weight.
'Well done Koji, that's it. Now I want you to attack me.' Koji looked into the man's eyes in shock. Is that really what he wanted? He didn't understand, he thought they were friends. The man chuckled as he looked at the distraught boy before him. 'Nothing like that Koji. It's merely to train you so that you can defend yourself. You cant hurt me.' the man said, an amused smile on his face. 'Come now Koji. Attack!' the man finished with a shout. Koji tightly gripped the sword and lunged for the man before him. The man easily sidestepped before yelling 'and again Koji.' Koji turned and tried again, more quickly this time. Their swords clashed for a few moments before Koji was thrown to the floor, the leaves blowing up in a plume.
Koji made several more lunges, each ending in a similar way. It took him several more after that to realise that there was no possible way that he could defeat the man before him using brute force. He was just too physically powerful. Therefore as Koji was kneeling on the forest floor, his breathing heavy, he picked up a handful of leaves. He hefted the sword up with his other hand and lunged forward. Koji threw the leaves into the man's face and then jabbed the sword forward. He made a cut on man's shoulder. Blood trickled from the wound. Koji gasped and dropped his sword to the floor as he saw the blood. He looked at the man before him, his eyes filling with tears as he realised that he had hurt his one and only friend in the world. Before Koji could stop himself he flung himself at the man, his small arms wrapping around the man's middle as he muttered over and over again that he was sorry.
The man brought his hand down to the boy's head and ruffled his midnight black locks with a gentle hand. He then placed said hand on the boy's shoulder and pushed him away softly, breaking the hug. The man dropped the sword to the floor and then knelt before the boy. Taking Koji's chin in his hand their eyes met. The man's eyes were filled with pride as he forced the boy's gaze to his.
'Koji, you have not harmed me. The wound is already gone.' Koji glanced at the man's shoulder to see that what he had said rang true. There was nothing but a rip in the man's coat giving any indication that he had been hurt at all. Koji then turned his attention back to the man as he began to speak again. 'Well done little one, you managed to wound a master swords man in your first sparring session. I may have been going easy on you and yet you used your mind and your size in your favour. I am proud of you and you are worth of being my master.' Koji raised his eyebrow at the man's use of the word master. He did not understand what the man meant by that. However he did not wish to interrupt the man, instead he listened as the man continued. 'My name is Tatsuo, little one and I am your sword. I will protect you and help you until the day you die.' With that Tatsuo stood. His eyes still joined with Koji's as he did so. He then walked back to the centre of the clearing and gave a bright and joy filled smile to Koji.
Koji's eyes flickered open as he came out of his inner world. He found himself alone in a bed, white walls surrounded him and the sheets on the bed were a pleasant pink. Koji found himself wondering why they were not white but ignored the thought as it had no reason to be there. Koji was confused and a little scared at his new predicament. How had he possibly got here?
"Tatsuo are you there?" he called out gently He needed the reassurance that his only friend would still stay with him through whatever he was to face.
'I'm here little one' the voice replied. 'I'll always be here, even when you ca't see me.' Koji smiled at the thought that he would always have Tatsuo as a friend no matter where he was or how desperate he felt, the man would always be there for him.
"Thank you Tatsuo. You are the most amazing person ever" Koji said, his voice filled with sincerity and a bright smile on his face.
Unbeknownst to Koji he was not in fact alone. In a small room adjoining the one that Koji found himself in were two Shinigami. The two had been sent there by their Captains' command. Hiyori Sarugaki, Lieutenant of the 12th division and Momo Hinamori 4th seat of the 5th division were situated there. The two thought that it was some sort of prank being pulled by their Captains as it was well know that the two of them hated each other. They had been told to listen to the sleeping boy in the next room but not to let him know they were there. They were to let their Captains know when he awoke and watch him until they could get there. They were also to call Unahana if anything seemed to be wrong with the boy or if he needed anything.
The pair had been repressing their spiritual pressure and attempting not to fight with each other, as the boy would be able to hear them through the wall, for the past three hours. The two had been in a glaring match when they heard a creaking of bed springs. The two instantly focused all their attention onto what what was going on in the room. They heard a young voice call out for a person named Tatsuo. They both looked at each other in slight confusion. There was no-one by that name that they knew of. However, what confused them more was that the boy seemed to be having a conversation. There was no-one in the room other than him and yet the boy seemed to be talking to someone. It seemed impossible for the boy to be in contact with his Zanpakto at such a young age so the only conclusion seemed to be that the boy was crazy.
Momo jumped up from her seat and quietly ran out of the room to contact the two Captains about the new information. The boy was awake and talking to himself. The boy must be important if there were two Captains worried about him. Momo wondered what the boy had done to gain such concern. There seemed something more going on then she knew about, yet she need not question the word of her Captain. She then went back to the room and back to Hiyori and her annoying nature. As she entered she heard the voices of the boy and that of Unahana. The woman was asking to examine the young man, demanding that he sit back on the bed.
Koji was in the room, looking at the woman with suspicion in his eyes. She had entered several minutes ago and Koji did not trust her in the slightest. He didn't know who the woman was and didn't want her doing anything to him that he didn't understand. Koji scowled at the woman's insistence, she seemed to not want to take no for an answer. The two were in a standoff, both glaring at each other, neither willing to stand down. When the seconds had turned into minutes Unahana decided that enough was enough. She was not willing to have her medical procedures inhibited by a small child.
With a raising of her two fingers and a whispered incarnation she used Kido to bind the boy's body. She caught the boy as he began to topple over. She picked him up easily and placed him on the bed. She then started to examine some of the wounds that were marring the boy's body. However before she could check how the first couple were healing the boy's arm began to twitch. Unahana raised her eyebrow at the movement but continued her examination. The next few wounds were checked but no more as suddenly an arm swung at Unahana. She leapt back, her reflexes saving her from a fist to the face. She looked at the little boy before her in shock as he attempted to sit up. She was shocked as the boy broke through her Kido. Even though the Kido was but a weak one it took a strong individual to break through the Kido of a Captain.
In the shock of the moment Unahana failed to notice as the boy ran towards the exit. He slid open the door and crashed into the hard chest of a man. Koji caused the man to topple backwards and fall onto the other man behind him, ending up in a pile of limbs. Unahana, having snapped out of her shock, bustled over and plucked Koji from the pile, placing him back on the bed.
"Now you stay there. You've caused enough trouble as it is." the Captain growled out. Koji, hearing the sharp tone of the woman, wisely remained seated on the bed. He brought his legs to his chest and watched the scene unfolding before him.
"Shinji, Kisuke, lovely to see you. Now get off the floor before I drag you up" she threatened. The two dazed Captains stood up hearing the harsh tone and tried to shake off their confusion. They looked at each other before looking back to Unahana and then back to each other. It took them several seconds to understand how they had both so rapidly fallen to the floor. They then, simultaneously, seemed to notice the small boy peering at them through his fringe. A grin split both their faces as they released what their subordinates had told them was true. The boy was finally awake.
The pair walked towards the boy on the bed. Koji watched as the men approached. Tatsuo was warning Koji that the two men in front of him were powerful and dangerous. Koji needed to ensure that he did not get on the wrong side of them. Therefore as the two men approached Koji sunk backwards, pushing himself further into the headboard. He had heeded Tatsuo's warning and was fearful of what the people may do to him. The two Captains grabbed a chair each and pulled them towards the bed. Sitting before Koji they spent several seconds watching him. After several seconds had passed one of them spoke.
"Hello little one." Koji's eyes widened as he heard the voice speak. The voice came from the man with the light blonde hair which partially covered his face. His grey eyes were gentle but Koji could see a spark of mischief behind them. Koji narrowed his eyes at the man. "My name is Kisuke Urahara, you can call me Kisuke and this is Shinji Hirako, just call him Shinji." Kisuke said, indicating to the man to his right. "Now can you tell me your name?" he said with a cheeky grin.
"My name's Koji., just Koji." the little boy said. His voice slightly muffled from behind the knees that he peered over. Koji's eyes met with the blue of Shinji's and the man melted as the green eyes, filled with curiosity, looked into his.
"Well Koji." Kisuke continued "You are currently in the medical wing of the 4th Division. Are you feeling okay? Can we get you anything?" the man asked. Koji was confused as to what the man was talking about. What was this 3rd Division that he spoke of? Was he expected to know? However as of that moment Koji was too hungry to think of much else. He therefore whispered his answer, in a timid voice, to the two men.
"Food, please." Kisuke and Shinji had to restrain themselves from raising an eyebrow at the boy's request. They knew that he had spiritual power but to be actively seeking out food meant that he had been regularly using said power for the past few days or so. A normal, non-trained spirit with spiritual power only needed to eat about once a fortnight if they were not using said power. The pair knew that there had been fresh berries in the boy's pockets and so he had eaten within the past few days. Koji would have needed to use a lot of energy to be hungry so soon.
Unahana was, however, ahead of the two blundering fools that called themselves Captains and was already bringing out a bowl of fresh soup and a slice of bread to Koji before the pair of blondes even had a chance to respond to the request. She set the food down on the bed next to Koji. The boy gobbled down the food at a rapid rate, the food disappearing in the space of several minutes. The pair of Captains watched the boy eat as they thought about the strange child before them. He seemed young, very young, maybe having spent less than fifty years in the soul society and yet he seemed to have the potential to become extremely powerful. The pair were suddenly broken out of their thoughts by an unexpected question.
"What's the fourth division?" Koji questioned. Shinji wanted to giggle at the look on Unahana's face. The woman was very protective of her division and to hear someone not know what it was was rather amusing.
"Well it's the medical division in the soul society and it's insignia is a Bellflower" Kisuke said good-naturedly. He expected a look of recognition to fill the boy's face at the information but instead he was met with only more confusion. The boy lowered his knees and leaned towards the two men. Koji looked into Kisuke's eyes and whispered a question they had not been expecting to hear.
"What's the soul society?"
The next few hours were spent explaining the soul society to Koji, they explained to the young boy where he was and how he had got here. They were shocked at his ignorance on the matter as he didn't seem to know anything at all about the soul society. They were further shocked when they discovered the boy had been here but a week. A week and already he had such strong spiritual pressure. The conversation had been going well until Shinji had questioned the boy about the voice he had talked to earlier that day. Koji had tensed at the mention and muttered that he was his only friend and that he needed to protect him. That had caused all three Captains in the room to throw looks at each other. They were all thinking the same thing. This 'friend' was probably not a good thing for the boy to have. Voices that no-one else could here could only mean one of two things: a Zanpakto spirit or the kid was not dealing with the transition to the soul society as well as they had hoped. It seemed almost impossible that the boy was talking to his Zanpakto after only a week here and yet they did not much like the other option either.
"Koji, why don't you tell us a bit about this friend, huh? He must be nice." Kisuke said gently. He did not want to worry the boy but needed to asses the nature of the the friend that Koji had.
"Yes he's really nice" Koji snapped as he proudly puffed out his chest. He may not want anyone else to share the friendship of Tatsuo, but Koji was proud of his friend and wanted to show the three Captains just how amazing his friend was. "His name is Tatsuo and he's always helping me. He's teaching me to fight but it's okay because I can't hurt him. I cut him with my sword but it healed straight away, it was amazing!" the boy rambled excitedly "Tatsuo also says that he will be with me forever and that he's proud that I'm his Master…" Koji trailed off realising that he had said a lot more than he had first intended. He just wanted them to know how amazing Tatsuo was and he had let his mouth run away with him. "Although, I'm not really sure what he meant by that" Koji muttered, almost inaudibly. He turned his face away from the Captains as he mumbled and was therefore unable to see the looks of shock on their faces. The two blondes were about to continue their questioning but were abruptly stopped by Unahana.
"I think that's enough for today, don't you?" she said, giving a meaningful glare to the two other Captains. "We need to let little Koji here have his rest. Why don't you come and see him tomorrow." The two blondes knew that the woman was serious and if they attempted to defy her in any way then they would spend a week in a hospital bed right next to Koji. The two made their way from the room, saying their goodbyes to Koji and leaving him to the care of Unahana.
