Author's Note:
(1) I DO NOT own Bleach
(2) I'm new to this, so PLZ review!!
The Rukon District surrounding the Seiretei is divided into 320 districts; each of the four compass points has eighty districts to each. In each, District 1 has the highest standard of living and 80 is the poorest and roughest area.
The eightieth District of North Rukon is known as Zaraki. It is the roughest area, and no place for the weak. Most of the adults are either murderers or thieves, and the children are at the mercy of a select few, whose mercy can get them killed. If the kids don't toughen up or move away, they die.
It is very bad luck for a new soul to land there.
*
Izumi landed with a thump.
She was in what looked like a rundown shack area.
She wasn't dressed in the clothes she had been wearing in the crash –she was in a slightly grubby light blue yukata(1) that seemed to be made out of cotton, with an red obi sash around her middle, tied at the back in a bow. She was wearing straw zori(2)on her feet.
Was this really the Soul Society? From what Takezoe had said, she had been expecting something a little more –well, spectacular. But this place was a dump.
People sheltered in huts or crouched in corners. The streets were practically empty. What was going on here?
She saw a group of ten people up ahead, and she started forward.
Suddenly a hand wrapped itself around her mouth and pulled her backwards into one of the shacks.
"Are you crazy?" a voice behind her asked. "You can't just approach Tsuji's gang like that. They'd kill you on the spot."
The hand was removed, and she looked around to see a young man of about maybe twenty behind her. And about fourteen pairs of eyes watched her from the shadows.
"I am Hibiki Torii," he said.
"Izumi Kihara," she replied in response (3).
"You've only just arrived from the world of the living, haven't you?" Hibiki asked. "It's really bad luck that you ended up here."
"Where is here?" Izumi asked.
"This is North Rukon, Area 80, known as Zaraki," Hibiki replied. "It's one of the roughest areas to live in."
"Hey, Torii!" called a voice from outside. "Are you in there?"
Hibiki gestured for Izumi to conceal herself with the other children in the room. Three scuffled up to give her room to slide into the back of the bed on which five of them were perching.
"Yes," Hibiki called back. Watching from her position, Izumi saw the gang push their way into the house. The children cowered away, some pressing up against the walls.
"So have you got the money I asked for?" one of the men asked Torii. From the way the others stood around, that man had to be Tsuji. He was thickset, had a knife twirling in his fingers and looked extremely mean.
"I just need one more day," Hibiki said, his voice pleading. He was standing between Tsuji and the children, as though trying to shield them from him.
"You need one more day, huh?" Tsuji repeated; his tone was low and full of menace. "Too bad for you –you don't have another minute."
He slit Hibiki's throat.
It was done so swiftly and effortlessly. Izumi's brain couldn't process what had happened, even as she watched Hibiki's body slump to the floor.
"Tear this place down," Tsuji ordered his men as the children screamed, sobbed and sprinted for the door. Izumi raced with the children.
The men let her go with the others; the children were of no significance to them. They started to ransack the hut.
The children flocked around her as they travelled: she was the oldest and seemed to automatically fill the void left by Hibiki. At last they reached the border into North Rukon District Area 78. The quality of living wouldn't be much better, but at least Tsuji wouldn't be a threat to them again.
Izumi stopped at the border. Behind her lurked pain, death and Tsuji. Ahead of her was uncertainity.
She had made up her mind –until she avenged Hibiki Torii, she would never be able to rest or forgive herself for leaving Zaraki.
As dangerous as the path she was taking was, she felt she had no choice.
One of the younger girls looked back.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked.
"No," Izumi said. "There's something I have to do first."
She took off, running back the way she had come.
(1) Traditional Japanese summer garment
(2) Sandals
(3) In Japan, it is traditionally polite to introduce yourself first if you want to know someone's name.