8 The Human World

When Takashi woke up, Shunsui and Jūshirō were back.

"Hey, Shunsui, I have a few questions for you."

"Sure. I'm going out to buy dinner. Wanna come?"

"Let's go. What about you, Jūshirō?"

"I've got some homework, so I can't go with you guys. Can you play Go with me later?"

"Definitely. Ok, let's go."

Shunsui and Takashi were walking together.

"Shunsui, can you tell me about the Five Great Noble Houses?"

"Five Great Noble Houses? Why do you want to know about it?"

"I heard a few people talking about it in class, and I was curious."

Shunsui gave Takashi a skeptical look but told him anyway.

"The Five Great Noble Houses are the five biggest families. They have all kinds of responsibilities as well as privileges. They're made up of the Kuchiki Clan, Shihōin Clan, Koji Clan, Tsunayashiro Clan, and Shiba Clan. Each of the Five Great Noble Houses control a division, as well as some weaker families. The Shihōin's have the 2nd division, the Koji's have the 5th division, the Kuchiki's have the 6th division, the Shiba's have the 10th division, and the Tsunayashiro have the 13th division. Each clan also has their own responsibilities. The Shihōin's are the guardians of the armory. The Kuchiki's record and protect the history of the Soul Society. The Tsunayashiro's are the builders. Most of the Seireitei was built by them. The Koji's are responsible for breeding Jigokuchō, while the Shiba's are responsible for making decisions about the Soul Society."

"I thought Central 46 was responsible for that."

"They are, but 23 of the legislators and two judges belong to the Shiba Clan, which gives the majority, so they basically control Central 46. Anyway, the other four judges and 14 legislators are also part of the Five Great Noble Houses, and they wouldn't go against the Shibas. This is one of the reasons why the Five Great Noble Houses have so many privileges."

"What kind of privileges do they have?"

"The military is not allowed to act against them without evidence that their actions are treasonous, they can kill and steal whatever and whoever they want, protecting the nobles is the highest priority. Just stuff like that."

"Wow. Aren't you a noble too, Shunsui?"

"Yeah, I have all these privileges as well. The Kyōraku family is a very old, prestigious, and high-ranking family. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"When I was in Rukongai, I heard about the Kasumiōji Clan and Ryōdoji Family."

"You must have heard wrong. Those families don't exist."

"Don't be so serious, Shunsui. Lighten up. We're nearly at the restaurant."

"The Five Great Noble Houses are a serious topic."

"Hey, Shunsui, have I mentioned how grateful I am that you're here. Without you, we would have been new to the Seireitei without anybody to guide us. I'm really glad we became friends."

Shunsui turned away to hide his blush.

"Takashi, what happened to not being too serious? Anyway, we're here."

Later that night, Takashi was lying in bed.

'The Tsunayashiro Clan, which means that the events of Can't Fear Your Own World will probably happen. The Kasumiōji Cland and Ryōdoji family don't exist, so the Kasumiōji Conspiracy and Memories of Nobody won't happen. This is good. Hopefully, none of the filler arcs will happen. I don't think the movies will happen either. However, the light novels seem to be part of this world. I only need to worry about Can't Fear Your Own World and Spirits Are Forever With You. This means I don't have to change my plan.'

Takashi drifted off to sleep.

Another month passed, filled with training. Takashi had been focusing on Reikaku and his efforts were paying off. He could see vague outlines in a one meter radius, and could defeat weaker classmates with his eyes closed. However, he hadn't figured out a way to combine Reikaku and sleep yet, so his goal was still clear. He had also learned the basics of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō, as had many other students.

"Gather round, gather round, I have an announcement. We're going to the Human World to kill Hollows tomorrow. Make sure you're well prepared. If you don't come, you'll be expelled."

The three had mixed reactions.

"I can finally get away from the old man. He's a slave-driver."

Shunsui was glad to get away from the lessons. Jūshirō didn't really care, while Takashi was sad. Just because he wanted to be stronger doesn't mean he wants to risk his life. If he could grow stronger without ever having to fight, he would be fine with that.

The next day, they got up in the early morning, then walked to the courtyard. A few students didn't turn up, and they simply left without them. Yoichi brought them to a Senkaimon.

"This is most likely your first time leaving Soul Society. The outside world is a dangerous place where you could die at any time. We're going to a relatively safe area, but nowhere is perfectly safe. Always be cautious and make your safety your top priority. Understand?"

Everyone nodded and traveled through the Senkaimon. They arrived on a mountain that was completely barren. It was surrounded by a forest that was filled with Gillians.

"Hollows like to stay in places with many humans so this mountain, with zero humans, has very weak hollows. However, the forest has more life and stronger hollows, so if you go in there, I can't guarantee your life. The task is simple. Make it to the top of the mountain in one day."

Yoichi disappeared.

"Let's all stay grouped together. There's strength in numbers."

"Idiot. If we stay together, the hollows will find us instantly."

The group quickly devolved into shouting and arguing. Takashi signaled to Shunsui and Jūshirō.

"Let's leave. All this sound and unrestrained Reiatsu will definitely attract a large group of hollows. We should definitely be gone before that happens."

"But what about all the students here? We should at least warn them."

"Takashi's right, Jūshirō. Even if we try to warn them, we'd just get sucked into the argument and nothing would change."

The three quickly slipped away but they were stopped by a black-haired girl.

"Um, can you guys bring me with you? I promise I'll be helpful."

The three boys looked amongst themselves. Jūshirō waited to see Shunsui and Takashi's reactions. They both shrugged, and Jūshirō's face brightened.

"You can come with us."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. How can I ever repay you guys?"

"Don't worry about it. Just try to stay alive."

The group of four slowly walked towards the top, easily dispatching weak hollows on the way. Once they reached the halfway point, three strong hollows appeared. One had long, muscular arms and legs, one was covered with spikes, and the last one looked like a snake.

"Oooh, how nice. Four humans. You'll make a fine meal."

"I haven't had humans in forever. They're a rare delicacy."

The third hollow just growled.

The two sides charged at each other. Takashi attacked the long-armed hollow. The hollow twisted around and its arms spun around with incredible force. Takashi ducked and the two arms swept over his head, pulverizing the rocks behind him.

'If that hits me, I'm dead.'

Takashi retaliated by firing several Hadō. The hollow tanked all the hits and was unaffected. However, the Hadō gave Takashi time to get into close range which negated the power in the hollow's arms. He didn't give the hollow time to react by constantly barraging it with slashes. Takashi felt that victory was within his grasp, and readied his final attack, but his overconfidence created an opening that the hollow exploited. Two hands exploded out from the hollow's torso and smashed into the unguarded Takashi. Takashi was taken completely by surprise and had no time to defend. He flew backwards, into the range of the longer arms, and before he could recover, the hollow spun around, smashing his arms into Takashi and throwing him even farther back. Takashi spat blood, and felt his ribs break. He smashed into the ground and spat out some more blood. The hollow jumped into the air, and stomped on Takashi, with gravity enhancing the attack. Takashi stabbed the hollow's foot, forcing him off, then stood up again, but he was not in good shape. His entire body was covered with blood, and he couldn't see straight.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! How could I be so stupid?! I was overconfident and now I'm about to lose! I need to turn this around!! What can I do?!'

The hollow laughed.

"Pathetic. Your overconfidence led to your downfall. Hahahaha. I always had four arms. I just hid two of them. Bet you never expected that attack. But now it's too late. You're dead!!"

The hollow swung his arms, and Takashi was thrown back again. He kept on retreating, while the hollow kept on following, constantly laughing. But suddenly, Takashi started laughing.

"Hahahaha. You kept on saying that my overconfidence led to my downfall, but now it's your turn."

The hollow sensed something was wrong and immediately ran away but he was too slow.

"Hadō #90, Kurohitsugi."

Kurohitsugi was one of Takashi's favorite Hadō, ever since he saw Aizen use it in the anime, so he had asked Yoichi to teach him how to use it. However, Kurohitsugi was far too advanced for Takashi, even with its entire incantation, and now Takashi only said its name. The Hadō obviously failed and backfired. All Kidō backfire when they fail, but when a low numbered Kidō is used, the backlash is barely noticeable. Kurohitsugi is a very high-numbered spell, and its backfiring resulted in a massive explosion far beyond the level of the fight between Takashi and the hollow. That was the reason why Takashi kept on retreating. He didn't want to get his friends caught in the explosion.

Takashi's arms and the hollow's backside were instantly atomized, and the rest of their bodies were nearly destroyed. Their skin had burned off, and the white of their bones could be seen.

The hollow coughed.

"Why did you do this? You'll end up dying yourself."

"I did this because I have confidence that my friends will come save me. Besides, what did I have to lose? I would've died anyway."

The two suddenly heard voices coming from the edge of the crater.

""Takashi!! Takashi!!""

The hollow laughed bitterly, while Takashi collapsed. His friends were here.