Chapter 4: Rukongai District 69

"What is this place?" Renji Abarai asked in wonder, as he looked around the well-lit town.

Him and Byakuya Kuchiki were walking through a certain district in Southern Rukongai. Even at night the place was bustling, crowds journeyed through rows of intersections, surrounded by lively townhouses.

These streets were made of cobblestone and the air had a dampness about it, as well as an aroma of smoke from charring and barbequed meat. There were no shortage of advertisements; distracting lights in the darkness, they both were being sucked into a dense volume of them as soon as they entered, battling for attention to their respective stores, unfamiliar services and gaming parlours.

"Heaven" Byakuya replied.

The place was completely bizarre. The townsfolk weren't in their usual Edo period getup. The two passed a bunch people conversing; who also wore suits or casual outfits like them. Peering over them, there were also two ladies in very revealing outfits! Very strange looking ones at that, Renji shook his head to focus.

"…No, I meant where are we in Rukongai?" Renji reiterated. "I-I have never seen a place like this before…" Byakuya stopped suddenly, bumping into Renji's gut, and gazed up at the stars above them. Renji took a same glance.

"The eye in the middle of the universe, yet avert from the public eye of Seireitei, a place where the rich and poor alike can venture out… and partake in activities of enjoyment…" Byakuya glanced forward; actually in front of his desired location.

XXX Dirty Virgin & Sl*ts Strip, Flaunt & More! Was the title of the building; written in fancy neon lettering.

Renji had just followed Byakuya's gaze at this point.

"Wh-Y-You!" He raised a finger towards the offending building.

"Let us go and partake in such activities of enjoyment," said Byakuya, again smiling, as he then raised the strips of fabric and entered through the door pleasantly.

Renji was left alone, unable to make a reaction to Byakuya's sudden departure; the huge wave of chatter in the area now engulfing him. At this point, he was totally confused as to why everything was… well, everything.

You can't be serious… B-Byakuya… goes to these kinds of places…?

He had to get answers and quick, he thought of barging right into the outrageous store; remembering his rank and influence – he could cover his entrance to retrieve Byakuya with a fabricated want for abolishment, or something like that he thought.

A minute passed and he set his plans in motion… only to realise that he hadn't moved an inch towards the store that seemingly tainted the ground around it. He was stuck to the floor.

What… Why can't I move…?

In the end Renji, weirdly, knew why he held such an uncanny hostility towards the not-so-humble townhouse. He actually held a fear deep down inside, over losing something much more than his integrity or maybe innocence.

He didn't want to dirty or add secrets to his already ill-proclaimed relationship with Rukia. He sighed.

What do I do now? Do-Do I just leave?

To Renji's notice, people walking by watched on at him as he had been staring at the building in thought. Incriminatingly so. Passing by visitors held faces of contempt; wordlessly labelling him as a coward and a pervert as one. He shrugged this off.

The people, naturally, were afraid of Renji, as they were threatened by his controlled spike of spiritual pressure. They ran away screaming.

"AAAAAUUUGHHH!" two ladies cried out in unison.

Ehh… maybe I overdid it a bit…

This blunder caught the attention of a new character, who was idling near a streetlight at the corner of the road.

This character was a short, muscular, though obese man; wearing a striped purple suit with golden chains around his neck, and to boot, a particular golden badge on his bulging lapel, the symbol of a mighty horse carved into it. Unfortunately, Renji could tell all this about the man because he was walking over to him, a distinct swagger in his step.

"Is there a problem 'ere, mate?" the fat man now glared over his sunglasses at him.

"What does this have to do with you?" Renji argued, not intimidated at all. He may have also had a point too, it's not like the man of 'distinct' class was in charge of guarding the area… though why he retorted and didn't possibly avoid an unnecessary confrontation was beyond him.

"Well… look what we have 'ere…". Suddenly from his periphery, another new character; a tall, slender man with same suit and badge appeared out of nowhere, walking towards the pair. "We have a fuckin' talka."

The lanky man was equipped with a scabbard – without a real sword Renji must add, though he did have a mean looking scar running across his brow and left cheek. The pair looked like polar opposites of one another. There was a subtle humour.

"What should I do boss, he's questionin' my integurinity?" reasoned the fat man, directing his eyes back at Renji, now licking his lips in some kind of anticipation.

Renji wondered what the hell he should do in situation like this, though; he did of course watch a Yakuza film or two which he soul-burned from the Human World, with scenarios very much like this one, though surprisingly… not as clichéd. That being said, he had never hurt a civilian before as a shinigami…

Guess I'll just play along for the time being. Though they better not piss me off…

"Still feeling like being a hero, ya fuckin' ape?" the lanky man started.

"What did you call me – you piece of shit?" Renji exclaimed, grabbing and lifting the tall man up by the collar. "I am NOT a dumb animal!" He really wanted to get this point across, and he was fuming. The two unable to comprehend such a sudden burst of anger.

"Shit, his spiritual pressure is thru the roof!" the lanky man yelled struggling to escape a breath from Renji's grip as sweat ran down his face. "I-I'm…"

"Bon! Get the boss, and-and tell 'em we've been attacked! …Man down!"

Startlingly, the very man in Renji's grip seemingly fell unconscious in his hand.

What the…

The unconsciousness man then raised his hands in a flash – scratching his nose, before throwing it back away to his side.

"You-You"

"…N-No way, you killed Erik, you-you killed him…"

"WHAT?"

"You will pay you bastard! H-Have you heard of our boss, the Iron Horse!" cried the fat man.

"NO – WHAT… He's not even dead, are you stupid or-?"

"He's our boss, he'll kill you! Like you killed my… my best friend…"

The fat – but surprisingly fast man bolted away from the scene; tears escaping his eyes, leaving the confused Renji with the scarred man still in his grip.

Renji dropped the very much alive man on the floor, and started to chase the other in hopes of sorting out their misunderstanding and not making things even worse – to the fat man's complete horror.

"NO, YOU WON'T GET ME!" he yelled, picking up the pace dramatically. With his speed, Renji thought had the potential of becoming a ranked shinigami.

What the hell… Why am I even trying to reason with him?

Renji thought about flash-stepping towards the man, or just leaving and going back to Seireitei.

However, he noticed that the flocks of people in his street and adjacent streets had their sights on the two now madly. The fat man then entered a fancy building to his right before Renji could elaborate any further.

He decided to follow the freaked out man inside the building – one noticeably different to all the other stores or clubs in the area.

They climbed several stories of stairs until the incredibly fast man finally reached his destination; opening a metallic door before slamming it with haste; onto Renji's face.

"...You bastard!" the red-headed shinigami yelled, taking a few long seconds to recover and push himself off the floor.

Without further ado, the recently closed two metal doors in front of Renji; noticeably having that same, though even more noticeably sunglasses-wearing, horse engraved on each side, opened up, letting out a piercing white light.

"Only very foolish mice make nests in cats' ears" a voice spoke from within that light.

What stood before Renji was a vaguely familiar silhouette. It became larger up until the point that Renji could recognise the man in front of him.

The mysterious man had short, clean black hair, wore a dangerous looking pair of sunglasses, and had a thin moustache lined around his upper lip; somehow giving proportion to his jagged face.

"T-Tetsuzaemon Iba-san!" Renji exclaimed with confusion.

"W-What Renji-kun?" he spoke again, the change in voice tonality apparent.


"Don't worry about it Renji-kun!" Tetsuzaemon Iba laughed as the fat man from earlier poured a still somewhat confused Renji a bowl of sake. "That guy always has the habit of being knocked out cold for the littlest reasons. Must be a weak immune system!" Iba sat down on the couch opposite to Renji, looking relaxed as ever.

Renji chuckled sheepishly, not inclined to suggest that Iba's judgement was wrong and that his 'business associate', Erik, had faked his own death again in cowardice.

The room they sat in was luxurious, with a spark of modernity, a direct contrast to Byakuya's more traditional style mansion, even with their moments of similarity. They were sitting on huge, black leather sofas with a golden-edged, glass coffee table stationed in between them. A huge bonsai tree settled on the closest corner of the room. Also noticeably there was an expensively huge flat-screen television from the Human World right in front of them.

Bon, the man Renji had chased a few blocks around town was sitting next to Renji, his facial expression and attached personality coming from a reverse parallel universe.

"Please drink – Abarai-san" he asked pleasantly, gesturing towards his drink.

In hopes of not offending him, Renji decided to bury his hands underneath the bowl as he drank the harmless amount of alcohol.

"Say," Iba continued, "What are you doing here anyway? I never thought you'd come to these parts."

"I could say the same about you, when did a 'momma's boy' like yourself become the 'Iron Horse' of Rukongai." Renji asked.

"Hahaha!" Iba laughed. "What a funny – but long story that is."

"Seriously, I never would have known you resided around here…" Renji said, strangely starting to feel woozy as red tainted his cheeks. "Hm… And you apparently 'own' these parts now, and I thought we were good friends" Renji joked.

It must be really strong sake.

Iba gulped down his second bowl of sake; not flinching in the slightest as if immune to the drink.

"It sort of happened… recently – I didn't not tell you because being the owner of the 'entertainment business' around here is incriminating in the slightest, hah, if that's what you're wondering…" Iba said stumbling his words a bit, also fidget-scratching his neck.

"Please drink – Abarai-san" repeated Bon as he poured the man another bowl of sake; whom was listening in on their conversation most reverently.

Renji shrugged and gave another drink. Mostly in a planned effort to understand the drink being served to him a bit more. Being analytic at this point, Renji realised something strange with the setting.

"Hey, isn't that Izuru-kun…" He finally noticed him.

The man sitting on the far end of the couch Renji sat on, somehow completely invisible to him, was in a sluggish form; a dense black cloud hung over his blonde head.

His face was buried into his hands, possibly at Renji's realisation of him. It was very much Izuru Kira; and he was depressed.

"W-What happened to you Izuru, you look like crap!"

Izuru didn't reply.

"Poor bastard broke up with his girlfriend today, you know - her." Iba said, a solemn expression on his face. Renji held a similar one at that upon hearing this.

Izuru just nodded slightly, and then the room darkened slightly.

Renji obviously didn't like this atmosphere, but hell, it was understandable. He leaned on the back of the chair stress-relievingly, nearly stifling up a yawn.

"Don't worry about it, Izuru-kun," Renji said. "She was a total bitch anyway; I'm surprised you didn't notice it until now".

This earned a dark glance from Izuru Kira, malicious intent clearly in his expression.

"Y-You bastard, what did you say?" he spoke, a grave tone to his voice.

Renji surprised at this, retorted, "What did you think I said?"

"Hey, c'mon guys!" Iba interrupted. "I tell you what we need; we need to go out to the town and get SUU-PA drunk, just like the good old times! That'll cheer you up Izuru… what do you say?"

"I'm married – and we're not kids anymore," Renji stated, turning his head away from Izuru pigheadedly. "Besides, I've drank enough, none of us are as good with alcohol as you are, Iba."

"...I don't feel like living anymore" Izuru pitched in, likewise turning his head from Renji. This earned a surprised glance from all other members of the room.

"Hey, don't say that Izuru-kun!" Iba started to sweat. "If you die you would be no happier in the human world!" He reasoned.

"Yeah, I'd bet you'd fall for a bitch and be a total girl about breaking up with her in that life too" Renji fired his arrow straightly.

"YOU!" Izuru cried threateningly as he stood.

Unlike Renji, Izuru was still equipped with his shinigami uniform – including his zanpakutou; though this didn't phase Renji out as much, possibly through the consumption of a certain substance.

"Renji, you're not making things easier here!" Iba continued, "Besides, I invited Izuru-kun here to forget about that stuff tonight, and here you are spouting off about it."

Renji non-coherently thought about this for a moment.

"Tch, …whatever… sorry, I guess." He affirmed defeat; which earned a relieved sigh from Iba.

"Good, good…. now where should we go for tonight? …Ah! I know a good place for you Izuru where we could forget about, uh, what's her name again?" Iba joked.

"Bitchelle Pri-?" Renji was suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, I remember, Michelle! That was her name, I knew it was something, er… Greek like that!" Iba then gave an 'uncalled-for' glance at Renji after he said this.

Izuru stopped tensing in anger and just sighed deeply, and darkly; this replacing an expected violent reaction towards Renji. This was a bad sign to him and Iba, both knowing him for so long.

"Tch, my wife is gonna kill me… ah hell, let's go Izuru... I'll join ya guys - just like the good old times"

This is what they call bad ideas, isn't it?

"Yes! That's the spirit!" Iba exclaimed, "Bon, tell the rest of the fellas to look after the joint while we're gone, oh! And keep in mind what I told you all about the Red Eagles. It's a go. Tonight." A serious glance.

"Sure thing, boss." Bon then proceeded to leave the room and enter the adjacent dining room, occupied by another ten or so men in similar uniform as he. They were somewhat enthralled by the news their messenger Bon was telling them.

Renji was surprised at how Tetsuzaemon Iba; a good friend of his, had just seemingly accumulated a underground entity behind his back, but with all that taken to account, some facts just seemed out of reach for Renji.

I familiar haze settled inside his head, he felt elated.

Iba continued to ask Izuru questions about what kind of girl he would like, with other provocative details; the latter ignoring him of course, occasionally gave him a "I don't really care".

Despite the circumstances, Renji was happy to be together with his friends that night; a night reminiscent to ones where they and the others in their group were still rookies and not even thinking of being ranked shinigami. Now most of them were, including his wife.

Though, he felt like he was forgetting something important, some fact. He dismissed it eventually; he didn't care in a way. He actually didn't know how he should be feeling – all he knew was that he'd want to have a good time.


Meanwhile in Karakura Town...

"Where is Kon?" Ichigo asked without hesitation, interrupting his mentor's morning greeting. Ichigo could sense it was around seven o'clock and he should now naturally be headed towards school. The man in front of him would know this fact too.

"Kon?" his eyes narrowed towards Ichigo, but before he could speak, his gaze shifted towards the brunette in his peripheral; pushing her stroller up besides Ichigo.

"And who might this young lady be?" he pondered.

"For now – it's none of your business. I need to see Kon. Now." Ichigo ordered.

"I'm Kaiyo" she replied, an action somewhat not expected by Ichigo. Most noticeably, like the night before, she was pissed off.

"Kaiyo Akihito, I might add, and you see this stroller I've been pushing around everywhere for the past twenty-four hours or so? It holds my baby – oouurr baby" she glanced mockingly-lovingly-scarily at Ichigo, before turning back to the man in green; stepping forward to continue before they could both react.

"Now, you see this piece of shit standing right here beside me, with the orange hair? This pitiful resource of mankind impregnated me, and left me to care for this baby for over a year now." Ichigo's jaw dropped. "Surely you can understand..." She smirked crazily before stepping forward again and matching the man's height.

"So then, please tell me. Who the fuck is Kon?" She practically full-shouted at the stubbled blonde's face. She glared at the man in green persistently, waiting for a reply.

Surprisingly, he did so, before even Ichigo could think up a way to clean up this mess.

"Nice to meet you Akihito-san, my name is Kisuke Urahara. I will now forever be, humbly at your service. You can ask me anything and everything you want to know… but how about after tea?" he sincerely said as he offered Kaiyo his hand.

Kaiyo, upset yet dumbfounded; accepted the handshake before the older, mysterious man walked up towards her stroller. He was smiling.

"My my," Kisuke conversed. "Orange hair just like your father"

He's… already accepted everything…? Ichigo could no longer comprehend the situation he saw with his eyes.

Kisuke proceeded to ask Kaiyo if he could carry the baby. She gave him a hesitant nod.

Kisuke then carefully put his hands underneath the smaller Kurosaki and held him up to his face.

"How are you today Kurosaki-san? You may call me Uncle Urahara! One day, when you've turned fifteen years old, I'll train you to be a mighty warrior – just like your father!" The baby joined in the laughter with Kisuke; the baby was already comfortable with the man that suspended him in the air.

"Don't even think about it," Ichigo announced. "Besides – ah! How can you just accept everything like that, don't you have like – questions to ask me!"

"Of course I do," he replied. He put the baby back down into the stroller before turning back towards the pair.

"What is the baby's name?" he asked. Ichigo nearly fell off his feet.

"Um… about that… we don't have a name yet," Kaiyo hesitantly replied.

"Whaaaaaat?" Kisuke threw out a fan from inside his sleeve, flapping it towards his humble candy store. "Please come inside then, we'll discuss names – I'll get the tea!"

You won't win her over with tha-

Kaiyo, to Ichigo's surprise, shrugged and followed Kisuke into the store, more actually wanting to sit her legs down than anything else. The two had suddenly left Ichigo behind at the store's front, leaving him to pick up the pieces amidst the noticeably-unsubstantial, glaring morning sun.

This is just… please someone hear me out…

Suddenly, a new short form appeared next to Ichigo. He nudged his shoulder.

"Hey Ichigo-kun, I overheard you talking, you had sex with that girl that walked into the store right?"

It was the red-haired brat who works at the store, Ichigo concluded.

"This is complicated grown-up talk, a tiny idiot like yourself wouldn't understand." He retorted. He was obviously upset at the audacious triviality of the young teen, and at such a moment.

"You're calling me an idiot, look at you, banging her when you have so much better people to choose from. You can't go back now." He answered.

What could he possibly mean by that?

"Aren't you being a bit too rude? You should watch what you say."

"I don't understand, why her? You have that orange-haired girl with the huge tits… I forgot her name, all I know is that she totally wants it, as if you wouldn't settle for that, there is also Rukia-chan-" Ichigo had to interrupt him there.

"Listen, Jinta was it? Life isn't all about banging girls, sometimes it becomes more complicated than that. Like when you realize you've suddenly become the owner of a child for reasons that are out of your control, it… just becomes complicated." Ichigo sighed deeply, as deep as the largest chasm in his mind.

"…So you're not after the chick with the big tits? I think Orihime was her name. Yeah, now that I think about it, Rukia was married a year or so back…"

"Right now, she is the last thing on my mind." Ichigo replied, slightly surprised by his own response. "And I already heard about Rukia getting married a long time ago." He was feeling intolerable and wanted to leave the kid to his own devices.

"Wait, so you're saying, once all this blows over, you'll still have sex with the girl with the big tits?"

Ichigo left the kid to his own devices, and entered Kisuke's store without a second glance.

"Hmm," Was all Jinta murmured, as he looked on at Ichigo's retreating form.

Suddenly he felt some sort of newfound respect towards the half-shinigami. At that very moment, he knew, if he became a grown up, he would also accumulate a network of hospitable women around him.

But in order to do that, he needed to change. He admitted he was too much of a brat.

Jinta then concluded that he needed to be more of a caring, gentle and considerate person towards women. Like Ichigo, he needed to also be strong, dignified, with possibly a hero complex. He left towards the back of the store towards Ururu; his determination to be a better person distinguished in his step.


Stained lights flashed back and forth as the horribly taint music filled the club with an intoxicating rhythm.

"I AM WAaAaAaAaAaSTED!" sung out Izuru Kira, as he danced like a pop-icon on some legendary bender, over the platform where drinks were previously being served. Unfortunately, everyone being surprised at his appearance, decided to egg him on, on a night that just got longer for Renji in the distance.

"Izuru! Izuru! Izuru! Izuru!" the crowd chanted as the man of the hour started pouring himself his umpteenth drink, this time getting most of it in his mouth. This was bordering on accidental, or possibly even planned suicide. Iba had to step in.

"Now, Izuru, I think you have had enough to drink. Let's get you down from there." The Iron Horse ruled, as his followers bordered their compassionate leader and Izuru off from the patrons-turned-audience. He planned to drag Izuru with him back into the VIP lounge.

"NO! STAY BACK!" Izuru struggled against Iba's grip on his foot and leg, and managed to break free. He ran straight for the alcohol at the opposite bar, pushing easily past his guards.

"Someone tackle him! He broke up with his manipulative-micro-managing girlfriend this morning, he's not thinking straight!" yelled out Iba worriedly. "You must not let him near a bottle of alcohol!"

A woman could be heard shrieking in horror, as all in ear of her shifted their attention towards the madly running, half naked form of Izuru. He had to be stopped.

It was about time for Renji to step in. Renji, who had been out of sight of Izuru and Iba for quite some time, around the time Izuru became 'officsh' drunk, as some younger patrons had put it. He had been perched on some red couch near the back, strangely, with two beautiful women in each arm, possibly out to steal his money he had once thought. Something finally felt out of place for him as soon as that shriek met his reddened ears. "Hm?..."

"Is...Is that Izuru?" he looked over at the half-naked blonde man whom was running away from a familiar, notably angry bunch of purple-suited thugs. They were headed towards his direction.

"No, don't worry about that loser," the lady to his right pulled Renji's arm back. She looked distractingly sultry in her noticeably loose dress-bra, much like the other incredibly similar-looking, smoking lady beside him… "Focus." A snap of one's gloved fingers, she spun Renji's head back to the former as the lady spoke again. "Don't be so resilient! Give us some time alone with you, in a room with just the three of us, and we will show you, heheh – what me – and my twin sister – think of a highly-ranked shinigami such as yourself!" "Want to find out, hun?" To him, they had the voices of sweet, dominant angels, but with the eyes of the coldest Menos in all the deserts of Las Noches.

It didn't take the clearest mind in the world now for Renji to suggest that they were definitely out for something in his possession, or to blackmail him, or something even worse than that, depending on their history with shinigami…

"You wanna know why they call this place Rukongai 69?"

Unfortunately, Renji still couldn't fully get a hold of his undercooked understanding, replying with a compliant, bubble-faced giggle…

"Ahuhh…"

Still, like before in front of that store, he wouldn't move.

They tried to.

He couldn't.

Mostly wouldn't... as the music suddenly died out.

Instead of the dawning understanding of such a tumultuous situation - there it was, causing resilience in him at their touch, something much, much more important and closer to his heart…

He didn't have to stretch far, it was understandably his wife, which he loved truly... which words could never do enough to describe the feeling he gets with her... their entire history... and moreso her...

"C'mon Renji!" Iba's voice, piercing into him, from inside the group in pursuit was recognised by Renji, his attention turned back to Izuru; being mere seconds away. "Stop him!" he yelled.

Renji carelessly pushed the two ladies off the couch and onto the floor, as he then prepared to stop Izuru with his arms and legs in a wrestling position, which he attributed from some human world TV program.

"Damn it, Izuru!" Renji cried.

He snatched Izuru as their paths collided, with astounding strength, suspending him in the air, not too long before throwing him down back fiercely onto an adjacent table to stop him from breaking through him.

Izuru crashed through the table, smashing it in half. As Izuru Kira gave out a horrifying wail.

The whole club had turned their attentions to the two ranked shinigami now, who seemingly were in a fight.

"Renji… I think you've gone overboard" commented Iba, who had finally caught up to the pair.

"I-It was the only way without flash-stepping to stop him" he reasoned dumbly.

"I'm sorry..." Izuru said barely audibly.

"..."

AAAAUUUGHH!" yelled out an enraged Izuru Kira, who climbed out of the wooden mess Renji had created with him. "I've had enough! You're dead!"

Izuru threw a punch directed at Renji's face, which actually connected perfectly. Renji flew off his feet.

"Shit!" yelled out a man in the crowd of dancers, who's confidence suddenly dropped as the group of purple suits gave him a threatening glance.

"You… You bastard!" Renji exclaimed getting up. He growled mustering his anger as it was some sort of energy source. He ran towards Izuru, in hopes of retaliating.

Izuru dodged his initial punch, but took a unnoticed knee to his stomach, this stopping him dead in his tracks.

The pair were immediately split up by Iba's group, and Izuru started vomiting in replacement of fouling his anger at Renji.

Renji was being told off by Iba, saying that was completely the wrong thing to do in that situation, as Renji started to lose consciousness at his overworkedness.

Later but still dazed, he was told Izuru would now have to go to hospital, by a disappointed looking Iba, Izuru sprawled on his back. Renji pinned by a couple of purple suits, started seeing the world hazily, and soon, he succumbed to rest.