13 Rukongai

I make my way through the Seireitei, towards the Rukongai. I know the true reason for these 'incidents' but I don't have a way right now, to do anything about it. The only thing I have confidence in is my strength, but that might not be enough when faced with someone who has the entire Gotei 13 in an illusion he controls. So going to the Rukongai right now, despite me knowing it might not lead to something, I at least want to make my presence known. 

I feel like there might be something that could interest me there. I always trust my instinct. I look around and use my passive Kenbunshoku Haki. I don't want to use my active version as it wouldn't make a difference. My passive Kenbunshoku reaches about 30 kilometres radius. The active one is over ten times that. I train every day to expand this range as soon as I get comfortable with all the information I get all at once. 

There is nothing strange happening at the moment. I sense the usual things, some fighting, people walking around, etc. I am looking for the place where the people disappeared from. 

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I reach Izunuri, the 78th district of Rukongai. I feel like this should be familiar to me for some reason. But I can't remember. I saw the anime and also the TYBW manga, but I wasn't someone who looked everything up. I walk around and finally sense something interesting. I can feel two female presences, surrounded by a few stronger ones. I make my way there and see a young girl holding a baby in her arms and some bread. She appears to be defending the food from these men.

"Come on, just give it to us. We won't hurt you, we just need the food.", one of the men says. He is the tallest one and appears to be the leader of this group. I am surprised that this isn't a cliché scene where these men are interested in this girl's body or some other revolting stuff. They're just hungry.

"I-I can't. My baby sister hasn't eaten in two days. Please let me have this.", the girl cries and tears run down her face. She holds the baby closer to her. So that's her sister. I understand her sentiment, I would also act the same way if I was in her position.

"We haven't had any food for a while as well. How are we supposed to survive?", another man asks.

"Listen, girl, how about you give us this piece of bread and we'll help you find another one, ok?"

"No, this is far too little for you all. P-please just give me a small piece then. Just a small piece for my sister.", the girl understands that she doesn't have a choice and rather decides to bargain for a small piece to give her sister.

"Haa, alright. A small piece.", the leader says.

"What?! But boss-"

"How can we let a baby starve? Has hunger driven you mad already?"

.

After watching this scene for a while, I have seen enough and decided to intervene. I walk towards them with slow and steady steps. The aura that I emit, the natural one, without any Haki or intent, makes the men turn around to me. They see my outfit and the Zanpakuto on my hips and know that they are out of their league. The Shinigami are known for their strength, and while you need to be strong to survive in the Rukongai, they wouldn't stand a chance against someone with a Captain's Haori.

"Greetings, gentlemen and ladies.", I say with a nod towards the girl. She seems to know what I am, but not the severity of my outfit. The men on the other hand understand this well and tense up. I try to calm them down and speak softly to the girl and the men.

"W-what is a ... Shinigami doing here? We didn't do anything wrong.", the leader manages to say.

"I'm not here because you did something wrong. It takes a strong character to share food in times of hunger. Even though you didn't allow the girl to have the whole piece of bread, you were kind enough to spare some for the baby. And for that, you have my respect.", I say to the leader. Then I turn to the girl and smile very slightly. 

"And you have my admiration, young lady. Your willingness to stand up to four grown and potentially dangerous men, to secure some food for your sister is commendable. I have a proposition for all of you. I am willing to give you all food if you are interested in my proposal."

"What proposal?"

"I am in need of good men, who value strength and life. If you are interested, I would like to invite you four to join my squad after you get strong enough of course. As for you, come with me. I will get you some food.", I tell the men and then offer the girl my hand.

"You're a Captain?"

"Yes."

"And you would allow some nobodies to join your squad, just like that?"

"I am looking for loyal men. Strength can be obtained with enough effort. So what do you say? Are you interested?"

The four men look at each other and then nod. The leader looks at me and then nods his head. 

"We are interested."

"Good. I will await you at the 11th Division as soon as you get there. Tell them that Captain Kuchiki called for you to come there."

"Very well."

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Then I walked towards the girl but kept my distance. I knew that she was born in the Rukongai and was suspicious and cautious due to that. 

"And what do you say? Are you interested in coming with me?"

"Why would you do that? Are you interested in ... in -"

"None of that girl. My reasons are my own, but I will give you my word that I don't have any bad thoughts or goals in asking you to come with me. And the word of a Kuchiki is his life."

The small girl seemed to want to believe me, but her experience and common sense told her that it wasn't safe. I didn't rush her. She had to make this decision herself. If she didn't want to, I wouldn't force her. Eventually, she agreed and took my hand. 

I held on to her and then used Shunpo, disappearing from the Rukongai. 

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We arrived at the Kuchiki clan compound and I asked a few maids to help the girl and the baby to freshen up. The girl I found out is called Hisana and the baby girl is her sister, Rukia. That is quite a coincidence. I must have found these two before Hisana abandoned her sister. 

"Byakuya, who are these two? And why did you bring them here?", Grandfather asked me. 

"These two are Hisana and Rukia, Grandfather. I picked them up in Izunuri. They didn't have any food or a place to stay. I'm sure that they'll be good additions to the Kuchiki clan."

"What? Do you want to adopt them into the Kuchiki clan? You know that you break countless laws there, right?"

"I know Grandfather. But I don't really care about that. These two will keep you company when I'm unavailable. You are getting lonely all alone here, I can tell. So how about you get to know them and then decide?"

"... Alright Byakuya, haaa, I can never say no to you can I?"

"You can and you have."

"What did you find in the Rukongai?", Grandfather asked me, changing the topic.

"Nothing yet. No one seems to truly care about the people who disappeared like that. I'll have to ask around more until I find something. Maybe go to other districts as well. This seems far too organised to be a coincidence."

"I see. Well, I wish you luck. Don't worry about them, I'll see to it that they will enjoy their stay here."

"That's good. Thank you, Grandfather."

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I am back in the Rukongai and am looking around the area where people disappeared. Looking around for a while, I suddenly sense something. Or rather, someone watching me. But it's not just one person, there are two. Interesting. I continue to look around and even talk to people around here.

"No, I didn't know them personally. But I met them once. They weren't very popular but no one truly is here. I don't know, I was just walking back one day and when I wanted to talk to them, I found their clothes. That's all, only their clothes. I thought it was weird so I decided to report it."

"I see. Thank you for your time.", I say and then continue. However, at one point, I noticed that my tails were approaching me. They were trying to intercept me and make it seem like it was all a coincidence. So, I decided to change my course. I took a right and sped up. I noticed them having realised that their plan wouldn't work anymore, so they began to follow me again.

I continued to do this. I asked people about the disappearing of souls and they told me what they knew. Surprisingly it was quite special for a Captain of the Gotei 13 to come personally. After a few hours, I decided to stop with my detective work and turned back towards the Seireitei. 

As expected, I met two people on my way back. It was only a matter of time until they couldn't take this anymore.

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"Oh, Captain Kuchiki what a coincidence meeting you here.", the man wearing glasses said as he and his little friend met me on my way back.

"Lieutenant Aizen, it is indeed a coincidence meeting you here. What are you doing here?", I ask him.

Aizen is a polite, soft-spoken intellectual, often addressing his subordinates by their given names. He rarely shows any sign of alarm or distress and often has entire situations planned out well in advance. Whenever confronted, Aizen is casual and uncaring, attempting to draw out a conversation and make small talk, which often infuriates those he is talking to. So I'm interested in whether he will also have something planned for my question.

"I was concerned about the reported disappearing souls in the Shinigami. Oh, please allow me to introduce you to the 5th Division's third seat, Ichimaru Gin. He is very talented already and has offered to help me find out more about the missing souls.", Aizen said with a calm, friendly and respectful tone. I look him in the eyes for a moment and see intelligence there. He can't hide from me.

Then I look at Ichimaru Gin. He has his eyes narrowed the entire time, giving him the appearance of a snake. But I don't care about that and only look at him. I continue to look him in the eyes and my presence begins to weigh on him. I can see sweat drops forming as he is pressured by me.

"Is that true ... third seat Ichimaru Gin?", I say very slowly. He gulps but manages to nod his head under the pressure. That is impressive. He does have a bright future ... or he would have a bright future. 

"Well if that is indeed true, then I commend your care about your fellow souls. There aren't many who care about that. Keep up the good work. Now if you would excuse me.", I say and walk past the two. But Aizen's voice stops me.

"Captain Kuchiki, I was wondering ...", he stops talking. It's an easy trick that makes him appear vulnerable and embarrassed. It should make me feel empathy with him and initiate the help, by asking him what he wants. But I simply look at him. It seems that he doesn't expect such an awkward situation and then reluctantly continues.

"I was wondering ... if you could have a look at my Shikai. I have been train-"

"No.", I say and then use Shunpo to leave. Who the f*ck does he think I am, his teacher?