Bleach Universe, May 11th 1803, Soul Society.
Damian reached the main entrance area to the 4th division barracks as the sun was just beginning to set on the horizon. He knew that despite already being technically on maternity leave, Anii was likely still in her officer quarters in the 4th division. 9th seat and above officers had their own designated living spaces separate from the main barracks, although personally Damian preferred to spend most of his time off at home in the Vuokufaia estate. Luckily for him he spotted the 4th division Captain Retsu Unohana speaking to her vice-captain, Seinosuke Yamada.
From the vice-captain meetings Damian had been too with the man he could instantly tell that he had a rather irritating and somewhat off-putting personality and was not particularly fond of him. He seemed like the last type of man to work in the 4th division of all places. However between him and Retsu Unohana he was not foolish enough to simply walk up to the pair and interrupt them, as their conversation seemed somewhat heated. So instead he simply walked slowly closer towards the main entrance area and sat down on a bench roughly thirty feet away.
After three minutes of waiting Damian was about ready to stand up and approach them but Captain Unohana beat him to it as Seinosuke sauntered off in the opposite direction. "Ah, vice-captain Vuokufaia. How are you this evening? Your wife is doing fine and she took leave yesterday. I saw her this morning in the kitchens however, so she should still be in the area. Did you need something from me?" Damian was initially about to correct her usage of calling Anii his wife since they were not married or even officially courting, but decided against it. He understood why she used that language and was grateful- it meant she had no qualms with it. Or maybe she didn't know or just didn't really care. To be honest she probably didn't care. Stop overthinking everything, he thought to himself.
"No ma'am, nothing other than coming here to thank you. Obviously she is well along now but you didn't have to give her time off this soon and I appreciate the extra couple of weeks. I am sure she will appreciate it as well." Captain Unohana just smiled and told him not to worry. "Of course. However you should know that you still have things to accomplish in regards to marriage. There are documents you need that I am sure Captain Sutiramaru will assist you with. Marriage between members of the Gotei can be somewhat complicated. Excuse me but I have plans for this evening and am already late." "Seinosuke being insufferable again as usual?", Damian asked but instantly regretted it as Captain Unohana gave him her signature smile of "that's lovely dear but you might be in danger if you continue" and Damian quickly shut up. Clearly, however, he was right. He bowed and thanked her once again. "8th seat Yukiyama should likely be in her quarters. If anyone asks why you are there tell them you have my permission to be near and around the division." With that last statement Captain Unohana began walking in the direction Seinosuke had gone and Damian knew he was dismissed.
Damian began heading towards the officer quarters and pondered what Captain Unohana had said in regards to Anii. Anii had been a standard Rukongai orphan, never having any blood family as was often the case in the Soul Society, but luckily for her she had been born in the 9th district of North Rukongai, coincidentally the same district as the current hollow situation requiring much of his division's attention. The 9th district was an inner district and thus much safer and had a much higher standard of living compared the outer districts, especially 50+. The two had been in the same year at the academy and simply feel in love in their fourth year, and she had simply taken the last name of her Rukongai district, a practice not uncommon whatsoever within members of the Gotei from the Rukongai who didn't have family names. He had once told her that her name fit as Yukiyama, meaning Snow Mountain, described her form.
She was a tall woman standing 6'2 of a somewhat pale complexion and had strawberry blonde hair that cascaded down her like snow blanketing a mountain. Although she was remarkably tall for a woman, she was not nearly as tall as he was as his Vuokufaia genes gave him a large 6'8 frame. His father and uncle were both 6'6 and his grandfather, the current head of the clan, was a towering 6'10. People often wondered if his clan were descended from giants, but they were not. He knew that said people probably didn't actually believe that but said it to be annoying anyway. Takeo called him half-giant or sometimes yellow-giant due to his long blond hair and beard, although he made sure to keep them both trimmed and groomed otherwise Anii would have his head for being unkept.
They would rarely say it to his face though, but that was probably both for the noble status rather than a notable oddity in their family lineage in terms of stature. Sometimes this made Damian annoyed since it was often hard to tell how many people he met were genuine or whether they just buttered him up and kissed his ass due to his status as a noble. Luckily he had friends like Takeo and the Captain, and a few other guys in the squad, but even then he had risen quickly through the ranks over the decades and was literally the vice-captain. How many of those men truly respected him for who he was underneath the vice-captain badge and fancy noble name? "Overthinking again," he mumbled to himself.
Damian reached the doors to the large building of the officer quarters for the 9th-6th seats and pulled them open. Anii's room was on the 2nd floor and he quickly ascended the stairs eager to tell her the news that he had received extra time off. He saw that her door was ajar and could see her reading at her desk. Without looking up she spoke first. "Do you have good news? I can tell from your elevated spiritual pressure. You need to work on control of that, you're probably intimidating some of the new recruits." "I do, Anii. I basically have time off until the baby comes, and that gives me extra time to approach my father and grandfather to figure things out. I already promised you I would shoulder this in particular and make things happen."
Damian walked over and laid down on the small couch within the room after closing the door, not wanting to disturb her further because he knew that when she was reading she would be reading for a while. "Whatever happens, we'll be together for it." Damian found that his eyelids were heavier than usual and the couch, although slightly too cramped, would be good enough to take a nap.
Non-Bleach universe, Earth, January 4th 2024, 20.5 years later
Dominik Vuokufaia was a 20 year old college student in the state of Kansas in the United States. His profession besides full time student was that he had earned himself a decent athletic scholarship through the sweat and tears of high school and when he wasn't practicing basketball or in class, he was likely to be found in the gym or on his PC. More importantly, he lived on his own and was a bit of a reserved personality, as most of his friends were either online or literal teammates. He also enjoyed YouTube as well as various anime's, namely one in particular called Bleach. He had been introduced to the series when he was 13 years old by the behest of his father, one Damian Vuokufaia, who despite being a grown man and his father hand a strange fascination and obsession with the series. Sure, out of all the anime and manga's Dominik had read, Bleach was certainly in the top three.
It could even be considered to be number one. But if anyone was the weeb of the household, that title definitely belonged to his father, although his mother was also a fan. Dominik didn't think to much of it and certainly he wasn't thinking about it now as he was currently on a video game. Not just any video game, but one Counter Strike 2, more commonly referred to as CSGO, and he was currently giving commands to his long time online-friend via Discord on his PC.
A proper gaming PC that he had painfully worked many hours over the previous summer to replace his gaming laptop. A PC that he perhaps was on a bit too much, and as such he personally limited himself to only three hours a night on it. Unbeknownst to him, his father, one Damian Vuokufaia, to whom Dominik simply knew as his definitely just a regular human and not a soul reaper from a fictional series that is real in another universe dad was currently standing outside the front door of his on-campus apartment, deep in thought, in his Shinigami uniform no less.
"Rush right and plant behind the crate, Grimster. Going to just hold W and sprint with the MAC-10. Works most of the time. All skill and no luck" Dominik said into his headset as his friend and teammate planted the bomb on the objective site, currently playing on the map Vertigo. As they were the "terrorist" side, in order to win the match their goal was to plant the bomb and detonate it preventing the other team from defusing it. However, the other way to win is simply kill the other team. And that is how most 2v2 wingman matches on Counter Strike went. Of course, rushing forward with the MAC-10 in the game was definitely something that did not require skill and did require some luck, but this was an inside joke between the pair. Dominik was trying a bit as the score was 7-8 and if they lost the game would result in a tie, but if they won this round they would win the game 9-7. His teammate Grimster managed to plant the bomb but according the kill feed and the sound of an AWP sniper rifle going off, was currently dead mere two seconds after planting. "Shit," Dominik said as he rushed over back to the site.
It had been a 2v1 situation in their favor but now his enemy knew where the bomb was and the direction in which Dominik would have to go lest Dominik simply let him defuse the bomb and force the tie. So Dominik had to rush against an opponent with a one-hit kill weapon. Great. "I got this motherfucker, he is probably hardscoping the bomb. You had two flashes on you right? Nice. Oh and your body is in cover so I should be able to grab them without getting sniped." Dominik maneuvered in the game over to Grimster's body and looted the two flashbang grenades. He threw both in the air over the wall at the angle in which he figured the enemy was holding the angle of the bomb site, and jumped around the corner and continued to rush forward to the stairs. Sure enough, the flashes were good and the enemy took a shot but missed him by a few feet.
Dominik sprayed the MAC-10 on the enemy player and got the kill as his opponent was already half HP from a good grenade thrown earlier in the round. "Fuck yeah. Good stuff, Dom," Grimster said over Discord and into his headset as they had just won the game. "Good thing you bought those flashes and died in cover. Otherwise that would have likely been a tie," Dominik responded as he looked at the results page.
They did not rank up to Gold Nova Master in wingman competitive but would in a few more wins, hopefully. Dominik mused over this lukewarm success but then heard a knock on his door, somewhat strange for the current 10:30 PM as he was not expecting anyone. "Hey man, its getting late and I gotta get a shower in before tomorrow. Also have an away game so I need the extra sleep. Ill see ya" he said into the mic and left the voice chat.
He then put on his hoodie and shoes and went out to check his door and was surprised to see his father. "Hey dad, what's up? Why are you here so late? Is everything okay-" however that is when he spotted the strange and specifically familiar clothes his father was wearing. The exact same clothes a Shinigami from Bleach would wear. But the clothes didn't just look like good cosplay. They felt... real, in a way.
"Uh, damn. That is a really nice cosplay dad, but you know its not Halloween anymore right? But seriously, mom is going to kill you for ordering that soul reaper outfit. Can't imagine those are cheap, but I have to admit it looks incredible, but what you are doing here so late"- that is when he also noticed the vice-captain badge as well as the sword his dad had in his hand. A sheathed katana, a bit longer than average due to his father's notable height and massive arms. Now while Dominik was at first taken aback, he did live in a state where he sometimes saw people conceal and even open carry firearms, and was no stranger to guns or weapons himself as he owned a handgun as well as a bowie knife. But, he had never known his father to carry around a real blade for seemingly no reason. He also noticed that his father had yet to say anything and was looking at him with a somewhat serene and very serious expression on his face. Finally his father spoke and raised a finger at him. "Hado 1. Sho." And Dominik Vuokufaia was thrown back by an unseen force roughly ten feet onto his living room floor.
Authors Note- The time axis between the Bleach universe as well as Dominik's (basically our universe where Bleach is fiction) is not a 1 to 1 ratio. The two universes exist on separate timelines and operate under different fundamental rules. Of course, this confusion will be cleared up in later chapters, probably starting in either Chapter 4 or 5. Just know that 220 experienced years for Damian and Anii has not passed between the events of May 1803 in their world and January 2024 in our world.