October 18, 1999
Kenkou lay asleep in his two bedroom apartment, which he shared with his mother and younger brother. He slept in his twin bed quietly that was covered in a red blanket, but the pillow case and sheets were white. His brother slept across the small, 10x15 room in his own twin bed with a green blanket covering him with a black pillow case and sheet set. Though the window was open on that moon drenched, October night, the chill of the night brought about a soothing comfort to the apartment. As Kenkou laid there with his left side turned into the forgiving mattress, his right arm twitched as he began to hear voices that did not have a physical source…
"So, you're finally back, huh?"
"Man, lay off him—he's sleeping."
"Hey, he's the one who came here. Unconsciously, but he still came here."
Kenkou opened his eyes and saw the two familiar black and white gi'd fighters arguing a few feet ahead of him. Where he woke up was a large, green grassy plain where the wind blew gently against all of the tall grass. The air was warm and smelled of summer and the bright sun shined on him like a wakeup call. The sky was the most azure blue imaginable and a few fluffy, cumulus clouds dotted the sky. This place again? Why now? Kenkou thought. While looking at the beautiful sky, the Black Fighter kneed Kenkou in the face which threw him about 50 feet away.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Kenkou screamed.
"Good, I finally have your attention," the Black Fighter said with his arms folded.
He was large, with his six foot, four inch tall stature that was heavily muscled. He had nearly bronze skin and a ring of large monk beads around his neck, but the necklace was so large, it sat on his chest. His face was in a permanently snarled look with red eyes that seemed to be the Devil's creation. The dark amber hair on his head was disheveled, but tied in a small ponytail on the top.
"You still didn't have to hit the poor child so hard," the White Fighter said while walking to the Black one.
The White Fighter donned a white gi with a black belt and it was clean at all of its seams and edges, unlike the Black fighter whose gi was frayed from what looked like battle. His skin was of fair complexion and his face wasn't as evil looking as his counterpart, for it was kind, yet commanding; encouraging, yet stern. His short, black hair was held up by a thin, red head band that extended two feet beyond the tight knot on the back of his head.
Kenkou got up to his feet and snapped into a defensive stance. "I'm ready now, bring it. I can more than take the two of you on." Kenkou smirked and raised his power quickly, attempting to cripple the Black and White warriors.
The Black one smirked and flash stepped in front of Kenkou and placed his right hand on Kenkou's left shoulder and whispered in his ear, "You don't get it do you. We're a part of you and there's no way you can be stronger, or weaker than us." Kenkou stepped back a few feet and snarled in anger.
"Besides, Kenkou, we just wanna talk to you this time. If I wanted to knock your block off, I'd have done it by now."
"He's telling the truth, y'know." Kenkou nodded at the White fighter, relaxed his body, and walked over to where the two fighters were. "Please, sit, Kenkou," said the White fighter. He slammed his foot into the ground and up sprouted rock stools for each person to sit on.
They all sat down and Kenkou asked, "Well, why am I in this place? And what is this place?"
"You're here because we wish to speak with you. And since you're asleep, now is the best time to bring you here. As for what 'here' is, 'here' is the inner sanctum of your mind. This place is where you can go if you meditate long enough and transport yourself here. You may also come here in great times of stress, at least according to Ryuujin Jakka," said the White fighter.
"Wait, you two can talk to other zanpakutou?"
"Of course we can! We're your zanpakutou! We can talk to you, as well as hear and converse with other zanpakutou," snapped the Black one.
"Wait. If you're my zanpakutou, why didn't you two manifest yourselves when I became a soul reaper?"
"Well, he thought you weren't worthy enough to use us and even after all of your training, he still thinks you're not ready," the White one said, leering at his opposite.
"Not yet, Kenkou. When I see you do something astonishing will I have us be manifested."
"Well, I hope it's soon. The zanpakutou my master gave me is good, but I'd like to truly have my own."
"Well, the good news is that the sword you received isn't a real zanpakutou: it doesn't have its own personality, or any transformations," the Black one commented.
"But it does supplement your strength well," the White one added.
"Thanks, I guess. And what are your names?" Kenkou inquired.
"Well, I'm—"
"We can't tell you," the Black one interrupted. "When we manifest ourselves, we'll tell you our names. Give us names for now until then, ok?"
The White one looked at his counterpart as if he trampled on his pride by cutting him off.
"Well, I'll name you Ryu," Kenkou said when he pointed at the White Fighter, "and I'll name you Akuma since the both of you resemble two of my favorite video game characters." He proceeded to point at the Black Warrior.
"Heh, I guess they're good names," Akuma said.
"I like mine, Akuma," Ryu said in an 'in your face' tone.
"Is this all we needed to talk about guys? I do have school tomorrow morning," Kenkou commanded.
"Well, there is one more thing," Akuma said, "and that's you better not die on us. The second you have too much life come out of you, I'm taking over." Akuma pointed his right thumb at himself, in the chest.
"Yeah, he'll try to kick my ass if I try to stop him—and I do detest fighting unnecessarily," Ryu said in a humorous tone.
"Well, I don't plan on dying. I'm too strong for any hollow to kill me and I doubt any soul reaper has the guts to come after me."
"That's my boy." Akuma got up and patted Kenkou on the back of his head. Suddenly, Kenkou heard an alarm buzzing in the distance and scratched his head inquisitively.
"It must be time for you to wake up. Get to school and do some learning this time instead of having your mod-soul learn for you," Ryu said in a parental tone.
"What're you talking about? It's not time to wake up yet." The alarm's buzzing sounded as if it was growing closer and louder at the same time.
"He's right, Kenkou. All of this soul reaper stuff has been keeping you from actually being in school," Akuma acknowledged.
"But guys, it's really not time to get up!" The alarm's sound was now blaring in Kenkou's ears and he held them while he crouched down.
…Kenkou's eyes shot open as his alarm clock was essentially screaming at him to wake up. Was that all a dream? Was I really in that 'sanctum' all night? Kenkou threw the covers off of his body and went to the bathroom to relieve himself. While he urinated, he continued to think about his strange 'dream' and how vivid it was and easy to remember. After flushing the toilet, he brushed his teeth, washed his face and hands, and got dressed in his room.
He then walked to the kitchen where his mother was cooking and sat down at his place setting. "So how'd you sleep, Kenkou?" asked Sozounushi, Kenkou's mother.
"It was fine. I'm well rested and ready for school! What's for breakfast?"
"My complete omelet with sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese."
"Mm! I can't wait!"
Kenkou's younger brother, Jiriki, made his way to his place at the dinner table, dressed and ready to go to school as well.
"Can I not have vegetables in mine, mom?" asked Jiriki.
"No way. You have your vegetables and you're gonna like 'em." Sozounushi continued to make her first omelet, tossing in the vegetables and other fixings into one side of the omelet. Once she flipped it, turned off the heat, and set the pan to another inactive burner, she turned to her sons and said, "Orange juice or milk this morning?"
"Milk, please," Kenkou and Jiriki said in unison.
Sozounushi's long, jet black hair shined in the morning sunlight that gleamed through the open window. She was a very attractive Japanese woman, even for her age of 40, but her children didn't know it since she never had a boyfriend since their father up and left when Kenkou was two and Jiriki was but an infant.
"Hm, since I used so much milk for the omelet mixture, we'll have to go with orange juice. Is that ok, boys?" They both nodded with half closed eyes as they were both not fully awake yet. She grabbed the orange juice container out of the refrigerator and placed in on the table between the two. Kenkou poured himself a glass, and got up and poured his brother one.
"Thank you, Keni," Jiriki said. Kenkou nodded back and sat back down. As he did, his mother slid the large looking omelet on to his plate and proceeded to make Jiriki's omelet.
Kenkou gobbled down his omelet quickly, drank his orange juice, and said, "Sorry for rushing, Mom, but I remembered that I have to catch up on a few things in school. Can you walk Jiriki to school?"
"Sure, Kenkou, I'll make an exception this morning since I don't have to be at work till a little later today. But don't make a habit of this, ok?"
"Sure, Mom."
Kenkou went to his mother and reached up for a kiss and waved goodbye at his brother and made his way to school, which was only six blocks away. How am I gonna get my own zanpakutou? I hope I can test myself soon so I can achieve bankai and become a captain one day. I just hope no hollows attack while I'm at school today. Being a superhero isn't all that rewarding if no one sees you, Kenkou thought his whole way to school.