A/N: First off, I'd like to apologize to my readers. I haven't updated for so long because I was involved in the school musical and then I had the SATs just now. So I hope you'll forgive me!
That aside! I hope you will enjoy chapter 2 of Swirl Descent! Please read and review! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 2"Brother, I'm tired."
A few minutes later, "Brother, I'm really hungry"
"Broth-"
"Kukaku, will you keep quiet!?" Kaien shouted, fed up with his sister's complaints.
The Shiba children had been traveling for the past three days. Nearly all their food was gone, and they had no money with which to buy some more. The forest they had been walking through for entire morning was beginning to bore the older boy. Kaien squinted his eyes to see if he could see anything in the distance.
"Brother, why are you getting so mad?" Kukaku asked. She was tired and hungry and wanted to rest her poor sandaled feet. She looked over to see a sleeping Ganju on Kaien's back. Drool was sliding down his chin and Kukaku stuck her tongue out at him for being so lucky to be able to sleep.
After their parent's death, the children had been banished from Seireitei. They were no longer protected under the noble code and therefore had no say in the decision of the Central Chamber of 46.
Kaien stopped suddenly. Kukaku collided into him.
"Ow! Idiot! Why'd you stop, Kaien!?" Kukaku groaned as she rubbed her forehead. She looked up and saw a beaming grin take over her brother's face. She looked forward and her eyes lit up.
"Civilization at last!" Kaien cried. He raised his hands into the air, nearly dropping Ganju in the process. The family ran to the huge village that waited before them. Within Rukongai, there were many desolate villages full of unhappy people and foreboding loiterers. But there were villages that actually seemed like cities themselves. Not as grand as the towering buildings of their old home, the villages were very widespread and a gathering place for information and most of all, FOOD!
Kaien gasped for breath. He looked up and took the entirety of it all in. People were everywhere and he was so happy he could cry. Ganju was already working on that department. The younger boy had woken up and was bawling for something to eat. Kaien rubbed his back.
"Shh. It's okay, Ganju. We're going to get some food, okay? Just give me a little bit longer." The boy stifled his tears as he nodded.
"Now, where to find a job?" Kaien began to walk, and he ended up walking for another hour and another and another. Kukaku and Ganju looked up when the heard the scuffling feet of their older brother return from his search for a job.
"Any luck?" Kukaku asked optimistically.
"Not a single ounce of it." Kaien held his head in shame. No one wanted to hire an inexperienced young teenager. They wanted experience men who could lift and chop and do all sorts of things that Kaien wasn't capable of.
"We're gonna die, aren't we?" Ganju began to cry again.
Kukaku punched the top of his head in frustration. The boy ceased his cries but his eyes were still tearing up.
"We're not going to die. It just may take longer than I thought to get a job." Kaien rubbed the back of his head. He could really use a nap right now.
"Stop! Somebody stop that man! He's stolen my money!" An old woman's shouts were heard. Kaien lifted his head back up and saw a middle-aged goon dashing down the street with a large bag of money within his grasp.
As the man was approaching closer and closer, Kaien stood, grabbing his father's zanpakuto. Just as the man ran past them, Kaien whipped the back of the thief's skull with the sheathed sword. The man fell down out cold. Kukaku proceeded to kick the guy to see if he was dead or not. The man groaned and she yelped and jumped back.
An old woman hobbled up to Kaien as he turned around.
"Did you do that, sonny?" The kind looking woman asked. Kaien nodded his head.
"Thank you so much, young man! You are a hero! Is there anything I can get you? I run the Yashimoto Inn that's famous in these parts."
Kaien looked eager to take the offer, but he didn't want to haggle the old lady.
"No, we're fine. We were just looking for some food and a job around these parts."
"Well, why didn't you say so? I have some food for our 'special guests' with spiritual powers. You all must have them, I suppose? I'll fix you up a meal. I can't do anything about a job though. I've hired all the help I need."
"The food will be enough, ma'am." Kaien smiled and the Shiba family followed the woman back to her large inn.
The food was hot and the drinks were cold. The meal was perfect and Kaien, Kukaku, and Ganju couldn't have been happier.
"Is there anything else I can get for you dears?" The old woman asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Kaien stood up from the table and bowed. "You've done enough. Thank you for the food. We better get going though. We need to find a more permanent residence."
"Oh, are you all newcomers?"
"Yeah, we used to be apart of the Shiba Clan, but we were banished because our parents were killed."
"How awful! Sending poor children out into this horrible world alone? You wait right here."
The old woman went into a back room and quickly returned. She held a small bag.
"I think that should be enough to get you by for sometime. Now take care and don't be a stranger, y'hear?"
Kaien opened the bag to see, a lot of gold coins. He looked back up but the old woman had left for the upstairs of her inn.
"Thank you." Kaien whispered as he and his siblings left the huge inn and traveled into the night air.
The next morning, Kaien was happy for once after being banished from Seireitei. Kukaku was holding Ganju's hand and the two were singing an old childhood song. The wind was warm on his face and as they marched through the field grasses, Kaien felt a bit content with life at that moment.
That is until…
"Stop, travelers!" A booming voice echoed across the fields.
"What the heck was that?" Kukaku scanned the area around them, noticing nothing but trees and birds.
"HAH!"
Two giants jumped out of the tall weedy grasses. The sun beat down on two very masculine male bodies. Two mean stood before them, donning demon masks upon their faces.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Kaien asked incredulously. He had seen enough weirdoes in his lifetime. He didn't need anymore.
"Who are we you ask?" The one more robust one called loudly.
"We are-" The other began.
"The Demon Brothers of Rukongai!" The two posed with great pizzazz. Kukaku clapped and Kaien glared at them.
The two turned back to look at their victims, and then double taked.
"What is this!" The one with the blue mask shouted.
"It seems we've made a mistake my dear younger brother! We were about to rob some poor sniveling brats!" The one in the yellow mask answered.
"We're not poor, you jackasses!" Kukaku ran at them and kicked the blue masked one square in the jaw.
"Ouch!" He cried in pain.
The yellow brother spotted the full pouch in Kaien's belt wrap.
"Oh-ho! It seems you aren't poor brats after all!"
"Shut up!" Kukaku kicked the yellow guy in the 'area' and he squealed in pain as he fell down for the count.
"Take that! I learned the best from my dad!" She shouted in triumph. Ganju toddled over and pinned the yellow brother for the win. As the younger siblings picked on the yellow masked man, Kaien was sizing up his competition. It would take more than a good swift kick to the balls to take this joker down.
"I'll get you for hurting my older brother!" The blue man said as he ran at Kaien with a full fist. Kaien fell on his back to dodge it. He could feel that the man held spiritual energy within that punch and if it had connected he probably wouldn't have still had a head on his shoulders.
The brother raised his arm again and threw it down to the ground where Kaien lay. Kaien brought his father's sword out, still sheathed, to block the attack. He then rolled over as the man's punch left a crater in the earth.
Kaien looked at his sword. The wires connected in his brain.
'Duh! Use the sword, dumbass!'
Kaien unsheathed the blade. It looked like any other sword, but it sparkled in the sunlight. The blue man stood still. Kaien raised the sword before him and charged at the enemy.
Quickly and with ease the blue man stepped back, letting Kaien run past his body and laughed. He gave Kaien a swift kick to butt and Kaien fell face first, avoiding slicing his face with his own blade.
Kaien turned around and was met with a fist at his throat.
"Sorry, kid, but you give me no choice." The fist slid back a few inches and the screaming sound of reiatsu could be heard pouring into his large fist. Kaien was gasping for breath. He was going to die. He was actually going to die.
The fist came flying at him. Kaien's eyes flinched shut.
'I need you Dad!'
BOOM!!!The swirling sound of water could be heard. Kaien opened his eyes slowly and saw the blue man lying fifty feet away from him on his back moaning.
Kaien stared at his hand and he was holding a new type of blade. It was a gigantic spear. The beauty of it instilled itself into his heart. Ganju stood up from his attack on the yellow man.
"Daddy's sword!" Ganju shouted in glee. Indeed, it was Nobu Shiba's transformed zanpakuto, Nejibana.
The spear began shrinking back to normal size into a regular blade. Kaien gasped. Had that really just happened?
The blue and yellow men suddenly jumped together and bowed before Kaien's feet. They were obviously shaken.
"We are so sorry shinigami! We did not know you were out traveling! Please! Spare us our lives!" The yellow brother begged as they both bowed on hands and knees.
"We promise to do anything, so long as you don't take our lives!" The blue man cried. Kaien rolled his eyes at their drama. Him, kill them? He was not that kind of guy. But if they were willing to do anything…
"Build me a house and be my servants."
"What?" The two brothers gasped in shock.
"Do you wanna die?" Kaien gave his best impersonation of a demonic face. He prayed they would not see through his bluff. Kaien actually had no idea how his father's sword had been summoned.
Luckily, Kaien was dealing with naive men.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!" The two brothers clutched each other. The promptly stood and bowed, whilst removing their demonic masks. As the stood to tower over Kaien, he noted that they looked very similar and must indeed be brothers.
"So, what are your names?" Kukaku asked abruptly, ready to play with her new servants.
"I am the older brother, Koganehiko." The one with the longer face stated.
"And I am Shiroganehiko, the younger brother." The other one with the square jaw mimicked.
"I'm Kaien, and this is my sister Kukaku, and brother, Ganju. We are part of the Shiba clan."
The brothers gasped in humility and promptly bowed to the siblings again.
"You must mean the famous noble house of Shiba's that worked to help the people of Rukongai!" Shiroganehiko stated.
"Sure…" Kaien agreed. Who knew his parents were famous?
"We loved them! But we heard they were killed-" Koganehiko stopped in midsentence.
The children's faces started to look gloomy.
"Sorry. We'll build you a house and serve under you to honor your wonderful parents!" Both brothers bowed and promptly ran off to go find tools and materials.
In a matter of hours, and much to the Shiba siblings surprise and total amazement that such a feat could be done, the house was built in a matter or hours. It looked more like a mansion then anything. It even possessed a huge banner across the top that read 'SHIBA'.
The family inhabited the home for only about a day, when people from nearby villages started bringing gifts to the household. The two brothers stood guard and the gifts were brought to the young children because their parents really were famous within Rukongai for all their good deeds.
Eventually, the Shiba children were known as the nobles of Rukongai. Kaien was very happy, but he knew that the offerings wouldn't last forever. He knew he needed to get a job very soon. His new acquired servants, also held jobs, and Kukaku was taking charge of making food and keeping the house clean for the time being.
Kaien knew that the only reasonable job that would pay well in the end was that of a shinigami. It was the only way to make money and eat real food for the rest of their lives.
Kaien started training every day to gain complete control over his spiritual powers.
One morning at breakfast with everyone Kaien set down his chopsticks. Everyone else looked at him and knew it was the moment of truth.
"I'm leaving to join the Academy and became a shinigami."
Kukaku slammed her bowl down on the table and stood in anger. She was scowling as mean as she possibly could.
"What do you mean? You idiot! You're going back to the people who threw us out to begin with!?" She screamed at him.
Ganju started crying.
"I don't want you to go, big brother." Ganju bawled. Shiroganehiko wrapped a comforting arm around the young boy.
Kaien stood from the table and lifted a pack that he had prepared the night before without anyone's notice.
"Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, take care of my brother and sister until I return. If I hear anything happens to them, I will find you and beat you till you're dead."
The brothers nodded in fear. Kaien walked over to his grumbling sister and crying brother.
"I love you guys, never forget that. Don't worry; I'll come back at least once a week to see you! I'm off to the Shinigami Academy. Wish me luck!"
Kukaku, Ganju, and their new guardians watched Kaien as he walked off into the sunrise. He was going to come back a shinigami, or not at all.
THE ENDA/N: So, did you guys like it? Then Review please!!! I appreciate it! In the next chapter, we'll see Kaien at the Shinigami Academy. Will he pass his exams and become a seated member? Or will he fail miserably? Until then! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Bye!