"Ah, finally~ My own place." Kūgo spoke with a grin as he stood in the middle of his new apartment's living room, the kitchen directly to the right with a dining table off to the far right and a doorway to his left that led to the two bedrooms and one bathroom that the apartment had.
"I didn't think you would rejoice getting to move out this much." Jin spoke with a smirk as he walked in after his brother, carrying the last of his bags while Kūgo rolled his eyes as he set the boxes in his arms down and sat down on the exquisite couch with a groan.
"Oh, yeah~ That's the good stuff." He groaned as he sunk into the couch, Jin shaking his head as he put the bags down and rolled his shoulders.
"Yep, Father accepted your offer to stay in a cheap apartment, but he wanted to make sure that you still had something to remind you of home so he asked Koga to go ahead and just furbish your entire apartment while we were still busy with the last uni exams." Jin answered and Kūgo shook his head as he stood up.
"Of course, he did. Anyway, what are you going to do now with me gone and university behind us?" Kūgo asked and Jin shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets.
"I don't know to be honest. Father wants to talk to me tomorrow so I assume he's going to ask the same, but other than training with Koga or going out now and again, I don't know what I'm going to do."
"Maybe he wants to finally prepare you for taking over as the CEO of the company." Kūgo teased with a grin, chuckling as Jin gagged and shook his head.
"Urgh, nope! I'm fine without that."
"Why not? Isn't the company like billions of yen worth? That's probably the best life you could ask for."
"¥18,7 billion to be precise and no, I don't. While I love Father's money as much as any other spoiled son, I also want to start working for my own money and figure out how to survive on my own like you. Besides, I'm still going to get the company when Father dies and that's far into the future, so I don't have to worry about that." Jin spoke with a dismissive wave of his hand and Kūgo rolled his eyes in amusement before blinking as his brother held out a hand.
"Well, this is it. From now on, you're on your own. Remember, the Shinigami are after you so they are definitely going to visit once they learn that you're living on your own."
"I know. Take care of Dad for me…and make sure Koga sleeps when needed." Kūgo said with a grin as he grasped his brother's hand, Jin smirking as he nodded.
"I will, but I just hope he doesn't try and secretly overwork himself again."
"Yeah, he's getting up there in age." Kūgo said with a smile, the two chuckling before Jin smiled and nodded.
"Until we see each other again, brother."
"Until we see each other again." Kūgo agreed with a nod, Jin nodding before he turned around and walked out, giving his brother a final smile before vanishing with a blast of wind.
"Show-off." Kūgo muttered with a smile as he walked over and closed the door, locking it before turning with a sigh as he looked at his bags, the boxes and the apartment around him.
"Well, time to get ready for my new life."
'Wow, it's barely been a few hours.' Kūgo thought with a smirk as he felt the reiatsu of a Shinigami outside his bedroom window, but he was a bit concerned as this one felt much more powerful than the ones that have been keeping an eye on him.
"So, you going to come in or just stay outside all night?" He asked out loud, waiting as he felt the Shinigami freezing slightly before sitting up as he saw them open his window.
"Apologies for the intrusion. I would have liked to come in through the front door, but since I don't know how long I have, I decided to come knock on your window." The red-haired man with dark grey eyes spoke with a sheepish grin as he climbed through, Kūgo simply humming as he watched the Shinigami dusting off their clothes.
"It's of no worries. So, can I know the name of the Shinigami that's come all this way to meet me?" Kūgo asked, smirking as he saw the shock on the man's face.
"How do you-Ah, you know of our world so your family most likely has knowledge on us as well. Well, I am Shiki Karasu, 5th Seat of the Gotei 13's 13th Division and commanding overseer of Karakura Town."
"Kūgo Kariya, son of Kazuya Kariya and currently unemployed. Pleased to meet you."
"To you as well. Now, may I ask if you have any other companions living with you?" Shiki asked as he looked around and Kūgo raised an eyebrow as he shook his head.
"Not at all. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, just needed to make sure." He answered while taking a notepad from his shihakusho and Kūgo watched as the man wrote down something on it.
"Are you…taking notes?"
"Eh, more like making a report. Anyway, how long have you been staying here and how long do you see yourself staying here?"
"Only for a few hours and maybe for a few years or so before I move back to Naruki City."
"Ah, a change of scenery, eh? Nice. Uh, do you hunt Hollows and do you have any family members that do so?"
"Not hunt them, but if they attack us, we act in self-defence." Kūgo answered before frowning as he saw the Shinigami wince slightly.
"Ah, you might want to not do that. Just run away and leave it for us Shinigami to take care of."
"And why shouldn't I attack?"
"Well, if you know what I am, then you know that only our swords can purify a Hollow and allow them to pass on to the afterlife. If anyone else does it, their souls would either just be destroyed or trapped in Purgatory with no way of ever getting out again."
"Well, I'll tell the Hollows that and if they keep attacking me, you'll find their souls in Purgatory."
"Hey, I don't make the rules. No need to get mad at me. Anyway…yeah, that should do it. I'll be back tomorrow to see if you're still attacking Hollows."
"Eh, sure. I'll keep the door ope-!" Kūgo stopped himself as he looked to the right, frowning as he felt a corrosive energy steadily approaching his apartment along with another dozen or so right behind it.
"Hollows." He whispered before Shiki's eyes widened as he saw the young man being coated in a light green aura, reaching out to stop him only for Kūgo to lunge forward and rush out of his apartment in the blink of an eye.
The air around him whistled as Kūgo leapt into the air, hearing his door slam shut behind him before blinking as Shiki was keeping up with a frown.
"I can handle this. Go back."
"No way, I'll take care of them. You go back." Kūgo said with a frown before ignoring Shiki's response as he looked out in front of him, a bit concerned at the sight of the thirteen Hollows charging towards them from rooftop to rooftop.
Crouching in the air, a platform formed behind him before Kūgo pushed off of it, the first Hollow reaching out to catch him before it blinked in confusion as the air whistled and its clawed hand fell to the ground.
"Cross: Activate!" Kūgo chanted as he reached up to his neck and pulled off his necklace, the jewelry glowing a bright green before it swiftly transformed into that of a large broadsword with a small red gem in its centre.
The sword was soon coated in the same light green energy as Kūgo before he swung it behind him, the first Hollow blinking before its body fell to pieces onto the ground.
"Quake Madly: Murakumogiri!" A shadow appeared behind Kūgo and he spun around to attack the Hollow trying to sneak him before blinking as a large naginata with a sparking blue blade stabbed through the side of its skull and stabbed it into the ground, Shiki spinning around the pole before ripping it out as he landed next to Kūgo with a smirk.
"All right. You just watch and I'll take them out." Shiki spoke with a grin as he spun his naginata, Kūgo rolling his eyes as the Shinigami slammed the butt of his polearm on the ground and sent out a shockwave that made the beasts stumble backwards.
"As if. Keep up!" Kūgo shouted before lunging forward, energy flooding the Cross of Scaffold as he slid under the attack of a Hollow while cutting its legs off, leaving the beast to fall to the ground as he flipped over the dive of a second Hollow while stabbing his blade into the neck of the first.
"Rumble!" Shiki growled as he stabbed his naginata forward and the air in front of him cracked all over before a spear-like shockwave shot through the air, the Hollows in its path completely eradicated by the power behind the attack.
"Funnel." Kūgo chanted while swinging his sword in a circular arc, the air warping as the last of the Hollows lunged at him before shrieks escaped from their masks as a large tornado filled with razor-sharp winds tore them all to shreds.
"Huh, not bad there. Your blade uses…shockwaves, right?" Kūgo said with a smirk as Cross transformed back into a necklace, Shiki rolling his eyes as his naginata turned back into its nodachi form before he sheathed his blade once more.
"Yes, it does. Now, why didn't you listen when I said I could handle it?"
"Eh, you didn't have to worry about coming with. Like I said, they were heading straight for my location, which meant that they were going to attack me. I was well within my right to defend my home."
"Firstly, there was no way you could have known that they were go-!" Kūgo blinked as Shiki's sentence was cut off halfway, slowly turning to the side to see the Shinigami buried deep inside a water-tank with blood slowly dripping from the cuts on his body.
"Urgh, why did I think some normal low-level grunts would even injure you?"Kūgo was on high-alert as he leapt away, Cross transforming back into its sword form as he held it in front of him just as a vibrating fist slammed into it.
He could feel the blow reverberating through his body before being sent flying through the air, shaking his arms while flipping over to come to a skidding stop in the air before he frowned as he saw no one standing in his previous position.
However, his eyes widened as he felt danger blaring to his side, ducking low while swinging to his side only to curse as whatever was there was gone before wheezing as a punch came from the other side and sent him rocketing back towards the rooftop.
As he ragdolled across the rooftop, he managed to get sight of a green bipedal Hollow with a curled-up tail before something stopped him, a groan escaping his lips as Shiki grumbled while putting him down.
"Come on and get up. Whatever's attacking us is invisible and he doesn't appear until he is sure he can attack you."
"Y-Yeah, it looked…like a chameleon…and from the way that it could talk, it sounds like we're dealing with one that's near its time to join others in becoming a Gillian." Kūgo muttered as he stood up while rolling his shoulders, Shiki nodding as he unsheathed Murakumogiri and swiftly transformed the blade into its naginata form.
Standing back to back with the Shinigami, Kūgo frowned as he strained his senses as much as he could, focusing on every little thing in the nearby environment in hopes of finding where it was hiding.
However, his eyes widened as he felt a shift right next to him, slowly turning his head to see the Hollow already pulling a fist back with a manic grin.
"Move!" Kūgo shouted as he spun and used Shiki as a springboard, the Shinigami grunting in surprise as he felt himself being pushed out of the way before his eyes widened as he saw the Hollow's attack barely missing his skull.
Stabbing Murakumogiri into the ground in front of him and using it as leverage, Shiki flipped through the air and landed a kick into the Hollow's neck, the beast leaping backwards right as Kūgo landed & swung his blade in a wide arc at the beast.
"Funnel!" He chanted and a tornado of razor-sharp wind blades flew towards the beast, but Kūgo frowned as he saw the beast enduring it before it dismissed it with a loud roar.
The next moment, it vanished with a buzzing sound and Kūgo quickly dove away as he heard the sound right behind him, though it was not in time as he felt pain exploding in his leg, looking down to see it torn up with the ankle twisted unnaturally.
Creating a wind funnel around hiimself, Kūgo rolled across the ground before pushing himself up with a blast of wind as the Hollow tried to slash at his lying form, Shiki not wasting time as the Shinigami lunged forward whilst slashing down with his naginata.
The air cracked and rumbled as the Zanpakuto came down upon the Hollow, the beast quickly barrel-rolling out of the way just as a devastating shockwave slashed through the air besides it and continued on right through a building behind it.
Shiki would have worried about the inhabitants of the building if he wasn't too busy back-pedalling, the Hollow hot on his heels as it continued to slash in an attempt to cut him down.
Unfortunately for Shiki, he stumbled over a pipe sticking out from the surface and fell backwards, wheezing as the Hollow followed up and landed a heavy punch into his chest.
The beast was not done as it went for the second one before a screech escaped its lips as its arms were cut off before it could continue, a glare on Kūgo's face as he grabbed the Hollow by its mask before carrying it up into the sky with him.
"So, you wanna play around huh, you little shit?!" Kūgo growled as he tossed the beast into the air, Cross overflowing with energy as Kūgo held it back.
If he had paid attention, he would have seen the spiritual energy flowing from a shocked Shiki and into his body, but he had all his attention focused on the beast in front of him as he watched it open its mouth.
Dark blue energy gathered in the beast's mouth as it glared down at him, Kūgo grinning as his blade was covered in a mixture of light blue and neon-lime energy before he lunged forward.
With a loud & shrill screech, the energy in front of the beast' condensed rapidly before being unleashed in a torrent of energy, but Kūgo grinned as he raised his blade high before bringing it down with a roar.
The clash did not even last a second as the energy blade cut right through the Hollow's attack, the beast's eyes widening as it tried and failed to dodge the attack, its head slowly falling off as its body decayed.
However, Kūgo was surprised as it saw its body dissipating to reveal an elderly man floating in the air, the man giving him a thankful smile before he began to fade away.
The last thing Kūgo felt was something catching him and the energy fading from his body before he passed out.
When Kūgo came to, it was to the sound of pans and kitchenware nearby, slowly blinking a few times to get his vision to stop spinning before groaning as he slowly sat upright.
"Ah, the hero awakens! Nice to see you didn't pass away overnight." Kūgo blinked as he heard Shiki's voice before frowning as he now noticed that he was sitting up on his couch, slowly looking to the side to see the Shinigami smiling while standing in front of the stove.
"So, uh…I might have burned the eggs, but they're still edible. Unless you don't like eggs and in which case, I also made toast and bought some natto beans and bananas."
"…What are you doing in my house?"
"Well, I would have left already through the night after I caught you, but there's a slight problem." Shiki spoke with a sheepish grin as he lifted his shirt and Kūgo frowned as he saw the pale and rotten skin around the man's chest as well as the broken chain tattoo in the middle of the man's chest.
"…What is that?"
"You know how Pluses have their Chains of Fate? Well, Shinigami have something we call our Binding Chain and our Soul Sleep, both of which are the sources of our power. I don't know what you did last night, but you managed to not only absorb all of my Reiryoku, but also severely decayed my Soul Sleep."
"What does that mean in layman terms?"
"You took my ability to become a Shinigami and ripped away any chance I will get of getting my powers back." He answered with a frown and Kūgo winced as he saw the pain in the man's eyes.
"Uh…can I give it back?"
"Well, that could work, but that's only a slight chance of it working."
"And the others?"
"Well, do you want fight a Hollow me right now? Didn't think so." Shiki muttered with a shake of his head and Kūgo sighed as he stood up and walked forward.
"Hey, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss…even if I don't fully understand it yet."
"Eh, don't worry about it. Moping about it won't bring them back and at least I know it's with someone that wants to protect those that can't protect themselves."
"Wait, what?" Kūgo asked with a raised eyebrow and Shiki smirked as he shrugged before his eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wooden badge with a skull design on the front & a white bead chain attached to the top of it.
"Also, here's your Substitute Shinigami badge. That will let you go in and out of your body while granting you the official garb of the Gotei 13. Be careful, though, as this will leave your body defenceless." Shiki said as he tossed the badge to Kūgo, who still looked shocked even as he caught it.
"Wait, what?"
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, you better eat up because in the next couple of days, I'm going to teach you how to be a great Shinigami."
"…Wait, what?!"
"When did I agree to this?" Kūgo grumbled as he stood on a rooftop, his body covered in a black shihakusho like that of a Shinigami's while the Cross of Scaffold shimmered ominously in his grasp.
"Because you owe me for taking away my former life. Now, we have another attack to the right." Shiki spoke while dressed in a pair of black pants, dark grey sneakers, a red shirt with a dark grey puffer jacket over it and a pair of ear muffs to keep his ears warm as it was getting close to winter.
"That was nearly two months ago."
"Eh, that's still two months of me being unable to do anything." Shiki said with a shrug and Kūgo rolled his eyes as he leapt off of the rooftop, skiing through the air with a smirk before the air rumbled as he leapt through the sky and towards where he felt a group of Hollows gathering near a civilian.
However, as he landed right behind the group of Hollows, he was surprised to feel a familiar energy sitting against the tree, easily killing them all with a razor-sharp airblade before his eyes widened at the sight of a young boy sitting under the tree.
His eyes were wide as he looked at Kūgo, but the Substitute Shinigami himself looked just as surprised as he looked at the familiar light green aura covering the boy.
'That…that's Bringer Light.'
"Hey, kid. How long have you been able to do that?" Kūgo asked with a smile as he walked closer while sheathing the Cross and raising his hands to show he meant no harm, watching as the black-haired boy still looked a bit cautious while he stood up.
"S-Since forever. W-Who are you?" The young boy asked and Kūgo grinned as he crouched in front of the boy.
"The name's Kūgo Kariya. What about you?"
"T-Tsukishima. Shukuro Tsukishima."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Tsukishima, and it's nice to meet a fellow Fullbringer."
"W-What?" Tsukishima asked with a confused look before his eyes widened as Kūgo lifted a hand and coated it in a light green energy that Tsukishima felt was similar to the aura covering his body.
"H-How?"
"Because I'm a Fullbringer, just like you. Now, what's say I show you how to use your abilities and you won't have to worry about Hollows ever again, eh?"
"So…we're adopting kids now?" Shiki asked with a raised eyebrow as Kūgo landed in front of him, the man rolling his eyes while Tsukishima looked confused from where he was sitting on Kūgo's shoulder.
"No, this is Tsukishima and he's like me."
"A Fullbringer? Aren't you guys supposed to a rarity?" Shiki asked with a frown and Kūgo grinned as he nodded.
"Indeed, we are. However, it appears that Tsuki here is a rare powerful one like me so I won't be alone any longer. So, Tsuki, you ready to begin your training?"
"W-What is going on here?" Tsukishima asked with a confused and panicked look and Kūgo blinked before giving a sheepish chuckle as he knelt next to the young boy.
"Uh, right. Forgot you still don't know about this. How about this? You read this book and when you're done, you come to this address and I'll teach you how to use your abilities, eh?" Kūgo proposed while taking out a card with his number on it as well as the Fullbringer book that Dad had given him.
"C-Can I really keep them?" Tsukishima asked with a concerned look before blinking as Kūgo smiled and nodded while patting him on the head.
"Sure, you can. Now, let's get you back home be-!" Kūgo stopped as his head snapped to the side, his eyes widening slightly as he felt Kazuya's energy rising rapidly even from this far away.
"Shiki! Make sure he gets back home!"
"W-What?! What do you mean I should get him back home?!"
"I can't explain right now! Just make sure he gets home!" Kūgo exclaimed before the rooftop under him cracked as he rocketed into the air, the sky around him booming as he rushed back to the Kariya Estate as fast as he could.
'Come on! Faster!'
When Kūgo finally caught sight of the Kariya state a few minutes later, his eyes widened as he saw nothing but a billowing smoke rising high into the sky, looking down to see the house burning before his blood went cold at the sight of Koga & Jin lying on the floor.
Diving straight down, he felt his blood boiling as he saw the black-robed beings surrounding the two downed men from all sides, all of them looking up just as Kūgo landed next to his family with a deafening boom.
"Nice! A lieutenant! What squad are you from, si-!" The Shinigami that had spoken didn't see anything happen as his head fell to the floor, the other Shinigami looking horrified right before their bodies fell into bloody puddles onto the floor.
"Koga! Koga, are you okay?!" Kūgo asked hurriedly as he turned the man over, leaning his head down before letting out a relieved sigh as he could hear his heart beating.
Assured that his former caretaker was okay, Kūgo quickly turned and rushed to Jin's side, leaning down before his eyes widened as he heard a faint heartbeat.
"You're okay. You're okay." Kūgo muttered as relief flashed through his body, falling over on his behind before his eyes widened as he remembered the third family member.
"Come get me, you bastards!"
"Dad!" Kūgo's eyes widened as he heard Kazuya's shout, making sure Koga was safe before rushing towards the house to help.
However, before he could get close, his eyes widened as a monstrous explosion sent him flying backwards, his body ragdolling across the ground a few times as he came to a stop.
Gritting his teeth, the young man grunted as he forced himself up, taking a deep breaths to forget about the pain in his chest before he stood up from the dirt with a slight stumble.
Looking at the house, the last thing he saw was Kazuya's lifeless body being held up at the neck by a young boy with spiky silver hair and dressed in a white haori over his shihakusho before they both disappeared.
"FATHER!"
A/N:And the flashback arc is now nearing its end next chapter. Why? Because I'm getting bored of writing this and I want to get back to the gaming aspect as Chad.
Don't worry, though, as not every little detail will be revealed here. Instead, it will happen as the story goes on.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!