Dominik's POV, next morning. First-person chapter.

The next morning I woke up feeling oddly refreshed. I immediately recalled what I had learned that had basically overturned my entire life in just a few hours, but after my parents had left late last night it became more and more clear that there was still time. Time to decide. I had already decided I would be attempting to go through the portal, but would I really be ready for that? What if I just got turned into atomic dust the second I made contact with the vortex? Dad had described it as a somewhat vision like experience, but it was really just as if his soul had been temporarily put to sleep. Much different than simply traveling through a Senkaimon or the Precipice World.

I got up out of bed and did the daily routine, then realized that I didn't have classes yet as it was January 5th. 11 more days until the semester started, but I still had multiple basketball practices. Basketball. Do I even need to bother practicing anymore? No, I shouldn't just quit the team. That would be unfair to them. I should finish the season and still put effort in, hell last season we made it to the D2 Elite Eight...

Suddenly I realized I was quite hungry. "Soul reapers still get hungry, don't they? Guess that's something that wont change..." I walked outside my room to the apartment kitchen and got out one of the last four remaining slices from the pizza from last night. Not the healthiest breakfast, but I was going to burn off the calories at practice and the game later. "Fuck, what time is it?"

The alarm clock displayed 10:38. I sighed in relief as I didn't need to be at the team bus for the away game until 2. Not forgetting that I needed to shower as I had not last night, questioning thoughts and ponderings entered my head as they often do when alone in the morning. "The Soul Society hopefully has modern plumbing, and showers..." I muttered to myself before turning the water on. Then I realized that the R&D department had started with Urahara, and that wasn't for decades.

I really, really don't want to have to piss in a chamber pot or whatever. Hopefully there are toilets. When was the toilet invented anyway?

Not the same rules, literally a different universe. Soul Society is ahead in some technology and far behind in others, but that was just due to Kisuke founding the R&D, wasn't it? What about other important historical events? Great people? Powerful countries and wars? Was it all a parallel universe of Earth but just different cosmology and spiritual stuff? Magic souls and fundamental forces far more mystical and paranormal than what was easily seen in this world, but then again the World of the Living was heavily suppressed. The average human knew nothing of the Soul Society, let alone Hueco Mundo.

And even if they were spiritually aware and that one in a million human, they could easily be silenced or memory altered, but had that tech been invented yet? Maybe. I realized just how much of an advantage I would have to prepare. Almost a century before Aizen reveals his true nature to Kisuke and Shinji's group. All I was going to do-what I needed to do-was train my ass off. Go forward. Never stop. Shout my name, Ichigo! Wait that's not me. Ichigo. I could try and prevent bad things from happening, but how much meddling would be too far? What if I warned Kaien Shiba of Metastacia? What if I just tried to expose Aizen? But what if Aizen somehow got defeated pre-Hogyoku and then didn't stall Yhwach in the first invasion, and then Yhwach ends up winning in the end, all because of my actions. Fuck, this was going to be hard to figure out. Good thing mom and dad have been brainstorming.

The water was hitting my chest as I turned my mind over trying to develop plans, counter plans, strategies. But what if I didn't have the power or influence to ever convince people or enforce that will? Power was paramount in a world like Bleach, literal personal power as well as the people allied as warriors. What would my Zanpakuto be able to do? If the blade is me, could I take advantage of that? Does a Shinigami just choose? No, its more like a discovery...

Three hours later I was walking slowly to the team bus parked on the outskirts of campus, already dressed and bag in hand but my mind was not on basketball at all. I even failed to respond to head Coach Daniel as he asked me a direct question. "Dom, you extra ready for today? You're going to have to play a few more minutes since Vincent is still recovering on that ankle of his. He will be out this one. You alright?" I quickly recovered from the shock of my internal monologue and racing brain and simply nodded. "Yeah, no problem. He wont be happy on the bench, might have to stay away from him all game..." Coach Daniel just laughed and then got on the bus after me, as I was last in line. Some teammates greeted me but I simply nodded and made my way to the back. The game was an hour away so I had time to myself. I simply plugged in my headphones and listened to music wondering just how the hell I would try to steer life after these insane revelations had arrived in mine.

I sat in the locker room at half time. We were down by 4. I had been playing fairly well but definitely needed to step it up if we were to win. I had already decided that I should finish out the season and semester as if nothing had changed, since we wouldn't try going through the portal until July. It still felt surreal on the court, doing something I loved but at the same time having the constant nagging reminder that it felt trivial to be playing sports when I should be thinking about my future. How was I going to survive? Even if I had similar powers and potential to my parents, I had never really been in a true life or death situation with someone wanting to kill me, let alone a never ending hunger fueled spirit monster. I am going through the Academy. Surely I will be ready after a six year military program. And dad is literally a lieutenant. I just have to listen, be brave and disciplined but not stupid. Stupid gets you killed a lot earlier in life.

Another thing to consider was lifespan. I knew that soul reapers could live for thousands of years. Head Captain Yamamoto was at least 3000 years old. The Gotei had only existed for 1000- no, 800 by this timeline. And I could get in to the Gotei long before many characters- are these people going to exist like in Bleach? Or will it be different? I have to assume that it will play out as Bleach- after all, dad mentioned Ginrei as well as Unohana and Yamamoto before they left...

"Dom, half time is up. You there? What's the deal with the game plan? More 3s or more pick and roll mid ranges? I suggest threes since we are down. For the first few minutes of the half anyway." I looked up and saw the starting point guard standing next to the locker room bench. "Yeah, Aaron. Lets do some 3s and continue to get Lewis down low in the paint for some post ups..."

I once again sat in the locker room after we won the game after I threw some nice assists to Aaron to get him a 3 pointer with 14 seconds left to get up by 2 and had a highlight reel sort of block to stop an attempted 3 pointer that would have likely won the game if it had gone in. I put all my stamina into defense in the last few possessions and stopped an almost open 3 in a way that seemed odd to me. I jumped high towards the guy as he shot- he was a tall guy about 6'5 and had lanky arms so I really had to close the gap. But I leaped from farther back than usual to put my hand up to block his shot and it was a crazy leap. My vertical was good but not that good, considering being 6'8 I had to admit my vertical and leaping ability was below average for the college level, since I didn't need to jump as high in the first place due to height. But I felt as if my legs had some sort of strange power in them when I went up to block his shot. Coach commented on it and so did some of the guys, saying it was a crazy block. Could it be that it was something supernatural? Dad had used a kido on me in this world, so clearly his spiritual powers worked even in this world. I knew that the more spiritual power and energy that one had, the greater their overall physical abilities were. Did I jump extra high because of that? I didn't feel anything other than the average end-game athletic adrenaline. Wait... Ichigo awakened his latent potential when Rukia used a Bakudo on him... No way...

I stared at the hard floor in front of me in the silent locker room as the last of my teammates had left at least ten minutes ago. I was known for having a slightly more reserved personality most of the time so no one treated me as if I was acting strange or out of character, giving me time to myself to contemplate. I stood up and randomly jumped, trying to will myself to use spiritual power- or energy or whatever it was exactly- to jump higher and touch the abnormally high ceiling that was about 12 feet high. Nothing really changed. My vertical leap seemed the same. I couldn't reach the ceiling. A basketball rim is 10ft high and I could dunk rather well so I assumed I could potentially reach just under 11 feet if I jumped as high as possible. Maybe it could only happen in times of adrenaline or real need? Like during the game? But that wasn't a life or death situation. Control probably wouldn't happen until I entered the Academy, and dad had said the term starts the first Monday of September every year, but first there was the entrance examinations and all that stuff. I really needed to focus on the pre-training that dad said we would do whenever he had time off before leaving through the portal.

Basketball was going to take a slight back seat- or at least video games and random wasting of time would, as I didn't want to abandon my teammates or coach. I was going to see this through and give it one last good season before stepping into a new life. Besides, dad had made it clear the instructors at the academy often had to teach fresh recruits who had never even thrown a punch before but had the potential to become soul reapers. And besides, it could end up that I cant become one and had to come back to this world. I had no real interest in staying in that universe if it meant I didn't have special powers-at least enough power to become a soul reaper, even if that sounded selfish to others, the fact is my parents were both far more experienced and knew just the same or even more about Bleach enough to deal with all the craziness. A normal soul hanging around would be an extra opinion and extra brainstorming partner but I would be of no use in a fight between such powerful demigods.

Or who knows, I could step through the portal and turn into cosmic atomized mush particles. Hopefully that didn't happen.

The next day was Saturday and dad had told me to try all my maximum physical feats, meaning my max weightlifting exercises and max out my cardio. In other words, push myself to the limit physically every few days in order to train my body even further than it was naturally being trained via basketball practice. It felt tiring but also good. The burn that comes from good physical activity had always pushed me to do more, and I had to thank my lucky stars I wasn't physically disabled in any way. At the same time, I had to be careful not to overexert myself to much and end up hurting or injuring myself before July. And hopefully not die in some random crime or accident by getting hit by a car. When I crossed the street to get to the other side of campus I made sure to look both ways a few extra times.

January 29th, 2024

The next few weeks rolled on. Classes started. Some were interesting. Others had nothing to due with my Major or Minor and were just stupid filler courses that colleges make students take to be able to get a degree. I had almost fallen asleep this morning listening to the professor drone on about something I didn't find particularly interesting. The fun thing about college is you don't have to ask the teacher to use the restroom or even just straight up leave. I didn't want to be rude but I really wanted to nap, as yesterday I had spent some time at the gym even though it was Sunday, which was a rest day for me normally. But I wanted to be as physically capable as possible, praying that my body would simply be "fully converted to spiritual matter" as mom had put it, since normal physical matter couldn't just enter the Soul Society. But at the same time, such a portal had never been documented before and I had already convinced the both of them I was going to try and go through no matter what. Either I get vaporized or I get to become a soul reaper. I considered that a worthy gamble. Maybe I was just reckless. Not reckless enough to want to join Squad 11- at least it would not be my first choice. Better Squad 11 than Mayuri's squad- except that Kirio Hikifune was the captain at the time, and even someone as headachingly annoying and bratty tsundere personality as Hiyori liked such a woman, than she would certainly be an excellent captain to serve under...

Suddenly the professor announced he was letting us go a full ten minutes early due to some important meeting or what not. I grabbed my bag and made my way down the 4 flights of stairs, careful as always not to slip on the slightly wet steps due to the cold and misty winter Kansas air. As I walked towards the college cafeteria meal hall area- much better than high school food I would say, although that is not the highest bar of standards to climb- and pondered something somewhat important. What exactly is "true" to this world my parents were from? What events had happened, what was "real"? Were Bounts real? I almost laughed at the thought of seeing a Bount considering the memes and general dislike of the infamous anime-only filler arc of Bleach. Was any of the "filler" material real? Kubo was either some kind of prophet or a time traveling dimension hopper in my opinion. But in truth these thoughts swirled around my head were probably a distraction. A distraction from my genuine troubled heart at the thought of the acclimating and changing to live such a life of constant battle. I needed to stay grounded and my ego low- I was walking into the unknown and didn't even know how to use a sword. Noble status or powerful parents or not, I had to take everything as seriously as possible.

Glancing at the water fountain/restroom area, however, I realized something. I really, really hoped that 1803 Soul Society had fully functioning sewage and toilet systems. And showers. I don't think I had ever even taken a bath after age 5. Showers, please exist in 1803 Soul Society. When were showers even invented anyway? Chuckling to myself I walked up to the guy in charge of pasta and asked for the usual when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Text Message from Dad: Son, lets meet this Saturday and ill start teaching ya how to use a sword. Try not to embarrass your old man. I laughed and texted back. Dad, you're technically old enough to be my great great grandfather. I should call you my "ancient man". I once again had to bite back the urge to laugh at my somewhat sub par joke as I thanked the cashier and walked back into the cold air feeling generally good about life-existence, reality-whatever one calls it.

February 3rd, 2024, 10 AM

I stood opposite my dad at my childhood house in the basement area that had been cleared out a bit and a few large extra soft mats and equipment had been placed around. Dad stood with 2 hard polished wooden katanas, very well made. "Dad, where did you get these? Must have been expensive..." He simply grinned and handed me one. "What do you mean? I obviously carved these myself." "Yeah right, number one Zanpakuto creator right here..." Dad laughed at that. "Man, I still cant believe the great royal squad zero has such a funny man in it... that was definitely one of the more bizarre things to learn about, assuming its true..." I just realized that squad zero's members must be unknown even to most lieutenants, or even captains, as they rarely ever had to come down to the Seireitei for any reason. Dad pointed at me to stand totally across from me. "Before I start teaching you Kendo, I want you to try and kill me with that sword. And I mean it. Try to really hurt me. Swing anywhere you want at me, I made sure to clear out everything so that we have as much space as possible down here." I simply nodded. What the hell was I going to do? Try to just be faster than him and jab at his throat or head? I figured that the neck and throat were the best targets to hit in a sword fight, considering the head had the skull protecting it at least, whereas the neck had no such bones in the front area, only in the back as the spinal cord. "Promise me you wont flash step or anything crazy like that right... that would be cheating..." I somewhat laughed at my own statement and so did he. "You mean like this?"

A full second barely passed and a blur of movement in front of my eyes and I had a wooden sword touching my heart area. I could still see his physical form in front of me but he moved faster than I had ever seen someone move, even while sprinting at full speed or watching some of the track guys do the 100 and 200m races. "Woah... so that was a flash step right?" Dad nodded and walked all the way to the back of the wall opposite me with his back pressed to it. "Dom, go ahead and stand at the other end with your sword up in whatever defensive stance you want and hold it out in front of you. I know I said earlier I wanted you to attack me first but this time I want to show you why learning the flash step is so damn useful and important for any soul reaper to master. I used to struggle using it over large distances and preferred to use the raw power of my Shikai, and normal hollows aren't able to use something like Sonido that the arrancars use, but many are still fast or have wings or other powers to help them move fast, so its key no matter what." We were both about 40 feet apart as the length of the basement was 40 by 20 feet. In another blur dad was right in front of me and I barely had time to reach up my sword and block. I did my best to push his blade away but he simply feinted and cut my leg- or would have if the sword wasn't wooden and he wasn't putting any actual power in it. "We are the same height, that being very tall. As such we have to fight a bit differently to most opponents our size. Normally you wont be fighting other souls or soul reapers but well, you know how crazy things can get when in our line of work. Your size gives you a power advantage and reach but also makes you a bigger target. You must learn to either overpower your enemy from the get go and if you can't, you must work extra hard to dodge and evade effectively. Good reaction time on that block, but why didn't you react after I broke the clash and slashed your right leg?"

"Sorry dad, I was still somewhat processing your flash step. To see it in real life right in front of me is just really cool..."

Dad rolled his eyes but laughed. "I suppose so. And maybe I was somewhat showing off with that stunt, but its also been a while since I could use Shunpo. Can't exactly go outside and start jumping building to building without causing a panic, since humans here in this world can see me clearly."

This time I started running at dad with my sword in a neutral stance, not overhead or too low, and did my best to maneuver around and aim for his neck. Of course, he sidestepped and only had to clash with me four times before somewhat disarming me and pointed his own sword at my throat. "Going for the neck is a good choice. An excellent choice, but also a high risk high reward area. If you can, go for center mass. Similar to a gun, aiming for the head is nice in theory but as you know a smaller target. And even though we don't fight with guns, with how fast some of us can move, and with things like ceros and kido, center mass is still the most important and common target. Doing fancy stuff like trying to stab the other guys hand might seem a good tactic, but not for beginners. Going for the lower neck is a good strategy, though. Again."

I once again walked back to the other end and this time charged but decided to just see how many clashes and blocks I could do before he landed a hit on me. This time it was five, this time I got hit on the head as dad jumped to the right after shoving me. I wasn't expecting the shove, but I realized I should have. As dad reached out a hand to help me up I remembered some quote. "Fighting with a melee weapon is not just using the tool itself. Its learning to use your entire body as a weapon." Dad looked surprised but nodded. "Right, did you read that in a book somewhere? Or some YouTube video? Or maybe your mothers smarts must have rubbed off on you." he teased as he walked back to the other side. In truth, I had heard that in some movie or tv show or something and always thought it was a good saying. Or at least assumed it was true.

"Yeah, I don't remember exactly, but-"

Dad flash stepped over and then cut down in a large overhead swing. "An attack can come at any time, even when talking!"

I barely had enough time to raise my own sword up, but this time I broke the clash and swung hard to his left and scored a hit on his shoulder before somewhat awkwardly stepping back, already recovered and back in my personal stance. "Good job! You actually hit me for real this time. Good hit. Now again."

I felt somewhat relieved that I seemingly wasn't too bad at this for a first timer, or maybe dad was just going really easy on me. The truth of the matter was probably somewhere in the middle.

We continued for about two more hours, until I was sweating pretty hard and dad said he was going to do some grocery shopping. "Great job. Honestly I am impressed. But this is day one. From now on until the day you graduate the Academy, and beyond that, never stop training. Myself as well as the Captains train regularly. Being a warrior is a way of life. Not something so easily put down, especially since soul reapers cant really retire, as you know. And you should feel some responsibility as you have power. The potential to become a soul reaper is definitely inside you, because a few of those reactions you had to my flash steps legitimately surprised me. Obviously I was never giving it my all and was holding back a lot, but you still exceeded my expectations. I did not expect your reaction times or speed to be at the level it was, although I suppose you picked up a lot throughout your childhood and now doing sports. You're talented, but don't ever let it go to your head. I have met many soul reapers who simply died to severe overconfidence as their egos outstripped their abilities, and they had decades of experience. Ill be back in an hour or two. Get some rest while I am gone. When I come back we can go again for an hour and then your mom wanted to go out to eat today, I was thinking Five Guys. Sound good?"

"Yeah, see you in a bit."

I stayed in the basement reading over the basic drills and stances laid out in a large book about swordsmanship dad had brought down that he said was "good enough, not full of bullshit." In other words, it was good enough for me if dad had nothing bad to say about it at all. After a few minutes of holding stance and doing strikes in all directions and a few styles of attack, I laid down against the wall and stared at the wooden sword in my hand. I wonder what it will be like to hold a real Zanpakuto in my hand...

And what else had dad said before he left? That he sensed my power? Does that mean I was leaking out spiritual power or pressure and he could sense it? I still could not really feel anything concrete or obvious pulsing out of my soul like some cliché anime power-up, but what was that supposed to feel like anyway? I had no basis of evidence in real life or in my own experience. Or maybe I was just releasing it subconsciously, similarly to how Ichigo had been scolded by Shinji about it attracting hollows and letting his presence known by not controlling his power? I felt as if all I had learned just led to more questions, but I had fully accepted my reality. Five months and I would enter the portal, and about two months more after that before the Academy started its term this year.

Bleach Universe, East Rukongai District 1

Shunsui Kyoraku was on guard. Multiple hollows had emerged from a Garganta a few moments ago and his men had dispatched them without too much trouble. That was until not one, not two, but three Adjuchas class hollows had suddenly followed after and the ensuing battle had resulted in the brutal death of his current 6th seat. The now fallen warrior had cut down the first Adjuchas, but the other two had swarmed the man before Shunsui could react. "Damn it, seems I am going senile..." The sake-loving cavalier captain had already removed his fancy pink kimono that always hung over his captains coat and had already activated his Shikai. "Bushogoma!" A powerful rotating wind like half a dozen dangerously spinning tops fully eclipsed one of the remaining Adjuchas, a big brute with an ape like appearance. The hollow roared in pain and charged, but Shunsui had already moved out of the way to finish off the beast. "Hado 78, Zangerin!" (Slicing Flower Ring) A large burst of yellow energy in the shape of a spiked ring blazed from Shunsui's left blade and completely engulfed the hollow, killing it instantly.

The last hollow was clearly the leader of this group. And this is what had Shunsui on guard. He had not fought against a hollow this strong in a long time. As much as the man hated to admit it, the Gotei was at war with this enemy, and his shoulders a bit tense because of it. The hollow's speed and power were clearly far superior to the other two. A lieutenant of this Sombrazin that Old Man Yama was so angry about, perhaps?

The somewhat humanoid toad like hybrid Adjuchas stood opposite Shunsui. "So, care for some conversation? So its this Sombrazin that has been on such a rampage uniting hollows in Hueco Mundo to come attack the Soul Society? It really isn't very good manners, you know." The hollow seemed to get angry at the casual mention of its leaders name. "How dare you mention his lordships name so casually, soul reap-"

But it was cut off as Shunsui executed the fastest flash step he was capable of and cut its head off while it was speaking. "Huh, I was lucky to catch it monologuing.." A few of his men had come to congratulate him about the victory, but many were also sad about their 6th seat. Shunsui went over to retrieve his kimono and dusted it off. Before he could speak, a member of the patrol corps had appeared in front of him. Shunsui reported what had happened to the man and watched as flash stepped away towards the Seireitei. His 9th seat approached him, now second in command in the field after the 6th seats death . "Captain Kyoraku, sir, what positions should we take up in preparation for another assault?" Shunsui turned and began to discuss matters with his officer. Only a few minutes later and another Garganta appeared in the exact same position as before as hollows emerged and his men had already gone to intercept. Shunsui sighed and leapt back into battle. The sun began to set and the experienced captain doubted he would be allowed much sleep that night, if at all, as the battle between the two ancient rivals, soul reapers and hollows, rang out in the cool evening air.