Note: My deepest apologies for not updating this story regularly. No excuses this time, I simply just didn't get around to it. Again, I do this on the spare time I have that I haven't spent doing other things, so I can't guarantee any regularity in the releases of this story. I'll try my utmost to get one out every one or two weeks, but there's no guarantee.
Happy belated New Years, Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever else people reading this celebrate!
It was a confusing ordeal for Ayame. No, confusing would be an understatement. Her entire situation up to this point consisted of being rescued by a man with superhuman strength and agility, walking through a dimension between worlds, and being greeted by the commander of this superhuman in person. And, as if to make things any more inconceivable than they already were, she had little to no context about why this was happening in the first place. Why her? Why now? Who are these people? What is this place? There are so many questions to be answered, and she probably couldn't manage to comprehend the answers to half of them.
Ayame had since been led to what was supposedly the 6th Squad barracks was (whatever the 6th squad was) to rest and think about what was going on. She was dead tired, confused past all belief, had a searing headache, and was still sore from when Hikaru had saved her from the gang that would have done unspeakable things to her had he not intervened, yet she still couldn't get to sleep. True, it was midday, or it seemed like it, at least – you can't really tell when you're in a separate dimension, after all – but her body was screaming for rest and she just couldn't oblige. Ayame's mind was reeling from the events of the past two days, and between all of the things happening, it didn't seem to be able to process that her body wanted to sleep right now.
Her bed was laid against the left wall and was what you would expect an average, everyday person to sleep in – mattress big enough for one person, sheets, pillows and all. A nightstand with two scented candles stood to immediately to the right of the bed and lit the area around it adequately, whilst a cabinet stood opposite the nightstand – exceptionally pointless at the moment due to Ayame not having any other clothes with her – with a sheathed samurai sword propped up by a stand laying on top of the cabinet; probably a decoration of some sort. She found it quite curious that that these... Shinigami, as they called themselves, didn't seem to be one with modern times. They used candles instead of lamps or lights, their weapons consisted of samurai swords instead of guns, they didn't seem to have any electronic equipment like TVs or computers, and the entire city in which they lived looked alarmingly like feudal Japan. Maybe the separate dimension had something to do with it?
At this point, Ayame sincerely wished she could blank out her mind and just fall asleep, but there was far too much on her mind for it to be that easy. She simply couldn't get a grip on everything that had happened so far. And thus, with several hours of effort, she finally let herself fall into the deep, dreamless, uninterrupted sleep that she had wanted all day...
The next day, when Ayame awoke, the first thing she saw was Hikaru sitting on a chair likely dragged in from the lobby of the barracks. She gasped and rubbed her eyes to make sure it was real, but the image remained there.
"Is that you, Hikaru?" she whispered to the person that sat in her chair in a dreary and tired voice, maintaining the good sense that other people were most likely sleeping. This building isn't just hers, after all.
"Yes, it's me. Calm down." he responded.
"Pardon me, but can I ask what you're doing in my room? Not to be unappreciative of what you've done for me, but it's kind of... well, creepy."
Hikaru smiled. "Don't worry, it's not like I've been sitting here the entire time you were asleep. I just got here, actually, and it seems I have perfect timing as well. You do know you've been sleeping for two days, right?"
Ayame was shocked out of semi-consciousness. "What! Two days? But that means..."
Hikaru read her mind. "Don't worry. The Captain-Commander – that's the orange-haired man you met two days ago, by the way – suspected this would happen. You're to meet him in his office in about two hours."
"Two hours!"
"Yes, two hours. You had better get yourself ready. No need for formal clothing or anything, but I imagine there are hygiene-related things that need doing. The bathroom is directly to the left as you leave your room. I know we don't look modern at a first glance, but there's a fully working shower – or bath, if you so desire – to be had, along with the necessary soap and shampoo. The clothes from your house are in the cabinet, and don't worry, no one looked through them and stole certain pieces or anything. I'll return in two hours to take you to the Captain-Commander's office. He'll understand if you're not quite on time, but all the same, try your best to be ready by then."
And with that, Hikaru left before Ayame had a chance to say anything.
Two hours later, after a nice soothing bath and an almost extremely embarassing moment that involved some other guy trying to get into the bathroom, Ayame was sitting on her bed, waiting for Hikaru to arrive. She could've sworn that she heard that guy getting punched in the face, because the crack of a broken nose is pretty distinguishable at that volume. Ayame didn't know who punched the guy, because when she left the bathroom there was no one in sight, but she suspected Hikaru must have sent a guard of some sort.
Hikaru soon arrived with a smile on his face as usual, and held out his hand.
"You're probably used to this gesture by now, but take my hand. We're going to the Captain-Commander's office, but without all the walking."
Even though Hikaru had saved her life twice in less than a week, Ayame was still was reluctant to obey. But, at the same time, she knew she didn't really have a choice in the end, so she did as she was told.
"This might feel a bit weird. Don't let go. I doubt I need to explain why." Hikaru said to her as they left.
"Weird" was an understatement on Hikaru's part. If Ayame ever tried to imagine what having your entire body completely leave your consciousness and then slowly reappear felt like, it would probably be akin to how this trip felt. All the same, though, the "weird" feeling left her as soon as it had appeared, and next thing she knew, she was in an empty room with nothing but a desk planted in the middle, and at it sat the man from two days earlier. To her in left was a massive balcony overlooking the entire city. Hikaru stepped out in front of her and saluted.
"She has arrived, Captain-Commander." he said to the man at the desk.
"Excellent. Thank you, Hikaru." the man responded.
"I will take my leave now, sir."
"No, stay. You're the only person she knows in this odd world, and you've already been filled in on the situation. Perhaps you can fill in some blanks."
"Very well, sir."
The man at the desk turned to Ayame, his striking orange hair seemingly lighting up the otherwise fairly dark room.
"Good afternoon, Ayame. I know I have already introduced myself, but I suppose a second one is due. I am Kurosaki Ichigo, commander of the Shinigami. Please, sit." he said to her as he pointed to a velvet-cushioned chair beside his desk that Ayame hadn't noticed before. She obeyed, and Hikaru moved to stand directly next to Ichigo.
"Now, I imagine an explanation of what has happened up to this point is long overdue. First, allow me to welcome you to the Seireitei, home of the Shinigami. Our city is the center of all that goes on in the Shinigami world, and surrounding it is Rukongai, the village where all souls sent on by Shinigami arrive. This dimension as a whole is called the Soul Society." Ichigo started.
"Souls... sent on? What does that mean?" Ayame inquired.
"Allow me, Commander," Hikaru said. "Humans are curious, for obvious reasons, about what happens after death. Well, after humans die, their souls wander, and a Chain of Fate forms in their chest that slowly shrinks over time. Normally, a Shinigami would eventually come across this wandering soul a perform a "konso," thus allowing the soul to pass on to Soul Society and live in Rukongai. Some souls have enough innate Spiritual Energy – the power your soul possesses – to become Shinigami, and thus the cycle of new souls and new Shinigami continues..."
"Does this have anything to do with that monster that attacked us two days ago... what did you call it... a Hollow?" Ayame interrupted.
"I was just getting to that," Hikaru continued. "Normally, a soul will be allowed to pass on by a Shinigami, but in some cases, if the soul is not found, its Chain of Fate will completely disappear or the soul will simply give in to loneliness and despair. In these cases, the soul loses its heart and it becomes a Hollow, a monster bent on devouring other wandering souls in order to become stronger. The Shinigami exist to stop these monsters and to prevent them from forming, as well as allow other souls to pass on. The Hollow that attacked you was no ordinary one, however. It was a Menos Grande; an exceptionally strong Hollow that is created by hundreds – sometimes thousands – of Hollows grouping together and merging."
"But why would it want to attack me?"
Ichigo cut in. "Well, to be perfectly specific, it wasn't going for you, it was going for Hikaru..." he said, throwing a good glare at Hikaru in for good measure.
Hikaru shrugged. "What can I say? I forgot to mask my reiatsu."
"Reiatsu?" Ayame asked
"Spiritual Energy. The stronger your Spiritual Energy is, the more abundant your reiatsu is. These two things go hand-in-hand and are an effective way of measuring the power that a Shinigami has." Hikaru answered.
"Some are more powerful than others?" Ayame wondered.
"Of course. I myself am a Captain; the strongest types of Shinigami. We each command one of the 13 divisons of the Gotei 13, which is effectively the army of Shinigami. Lieutenants act as our second-in-command, relaying our orders to the other men under our command. There are dozens of other ranks that are dependent on the individual Shinigami's power. Our Captain-Commander used to be a human himself – the Subsitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. He is one of the most powerful Shinigami that the Soul Society has ever seen."
Ayame was dumbstruck. "You used to be human?" she asked Ichigo.
"Yes, it's true. And to be perfectly honest, 'used to be' is an incorrect term. I'm not technically 'not a human,' since I haven't died on Earth yet. I simply traded my human body for a spiritual body in order to protect my friends and family. My human body simply couldn't accommodate all the power I held and often couldn't suffice in decisive battles where I was fighting powerful opponents."
"But wait," Ayame interrupted. "That means that at one point you were still human but fighting as a Shinigami... how is that possible? How did you attain Shinigami powers?"
"That is a long story, better told another day when more pressing matters aren't at hand. While we're on that subject, though, I suppose it's time you know why you're here." Ichigo replied.
"'While we're on that subject?' Do you mean that a human possessing Shinigami powers somehow pertains to me?" Ayame inquired.
"Actually, yes. You see, you're a lot like I was when I first found out I possessed Shinigami powers. There is much you have to learn about your past. Allow me to begin... did you know your parents?" Ichigo asked Ayame.
"Yes, I knew them. We originally lived in America, but when I was born, we moved to Japan. They never told me why, though..."
"That's because it was more convenient for them, and you. It was much easier to protect you while in Japan."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Shinigami's powers are strongest whilst in Japan, due to the close proximity to the main entrance to Soul Society."
"Are you saying my parents were Shinigamis?"
"Only one: your father. You're special, exactly like I was. You see, Ayame, you're the child of a human and a Shinigami."