The Rukongai

The very few lights of the sun, which were blocked by mountains of trees and grass beamed onto the face of Kai Kureno. A single red butterfly flew onto his nose, causing him to wake up as he sneezed.

"Where the hell?"

As he got up and dusted himself, he saw that he was still wearing his clothes from the Karakura high school, which was nice. When he looked around him, he was surrounded lots of trees and greenery which helped him relax a little.

After resting for some time, he decided to perform some stretch's and check on the condition of his body. His chain of fate that rested on his chest, had disappeared, but other than that he was mostly fine. His body felt as if it was an ordinary human body.

He felt his stomach growl a little, which confused him.

"Didn't Yukiko say you couldn't starve in soul society? I must be imagining things."

The red butterfly which woke him up earlier took shelter on his left shoulder. Kai was a little bothered by this, but didn't mind.

"How am I even going to start looking for him?"

He began to walk through the forest, hoping to find other people who he could communicate with. As he walked for what seemed like hours he eventually stumbled onto a dirt path.

He decided to change his route and follow the path, which eventually led him to a rural village.

"What? I thought soul society was meant to be a paradise? Yet this place looks as if it came from the Edo period or something."

Just from its entrance, Kai could see that everyone in the village wore dirty rags or Kimonos, which were supported by very few white strings. And another thing which was apparent to him, is that they all lacked shoes.

As he entered the village, everyone began to look at him oddly. Feeling their stares he raised and waved his left hand as a sign of hello, but none of them responded.

He approached them, yet some of them coward back a little. One of the larger men among them, approached Kai.

"What's a noble from the Seireitei doing here?"

Kai asked in confusion, "The Seirei-- wha??"

The man started to get more aggressive. "We know what you people have done to this place in the past! If you're here then you must be getting ready to finish the job!"

He then pulled out a small butchers knife which, he was hiding behind his back. Kai fell and stumbled behind himself. he quickly grabbed onto some dirt, and then threw it into the mans face in self defence.

The man stumbled back a little as he tried to wipe the dirt off, so Kai used that chance to tackle him onto the ground. The other villagers seeing this, began to group up around the two who were fighting, and pulled them apart.

The man shouted, "Let me go! I need to teach that bastard a lesson!"

"I don't even know what I did?? I just got here!", Kai argued back.

The two got detained.

4 hours passed

After spending some time in this world, Kai had learned two new things. 1. There exists an upper and lower class divide. He isn't aware of how big that gap was, but by the look of their clothes it must have been pretty significant. 2. Hunger exists. Kai had been starving for the last 2 hours and was desperate for food. He asked someone who was guarding the wooden cage which he was locked in for something to eat, but he just ignored him.

Both of Kai's arms were tied by ropes so he was unable to try break himself out, but at least he was still accompanied by the red butterfly which none of them seemed to pay any heed to.

A third male who also wore poorly made clothes, approached Kai's wooden cage. he opened the door and helped Kai up. He didn't posses any notable characteristics, but he did possess a similar build to the man who had attacked him prior.

"Move."

Kai was escorted through the village, and was taken to its centre where there was a large bonfire being held. On his left was what looked like a Jury, and at the back was a podium. Standing behind it was a boy who seemed to be around the same age as him. He also wore poorer looking clothes, and had short, straight black hair styled in an undercut curtain. His narrow black eyes emanated a look someone who had seen countless tragedies.

Standing next to the podium was a silent but bald man with a distinguished mustache. He had light skin and notable wrinkles under his eyes. 

The man who had attacked him earlier, was eventually brought over and placed next to him.

The boy behind the podium scanned Kai's appearance before commenting,

"Why did you assume that this person was from the Seireitei, Kubo?"

The man next to Kai argued in his defence, "Just look at his clothes! No way someone from the Rukongai could afford clothes of high a quality like that! He must be a messenger from the higher ups village elder!"

Kai flinched a little from that comment.

"Village elder?" he thought. "He doesn't even look older than me??"

The village elder noticed Kai's disbelief.

"Boy. Are you judging me based on my appearance? How long have you been in soul society exactly?"

Kai quickly responded, "I got here this morning."

The onlookers, Jury and Kubo made a look of surprise, however the village elder just laughed. Eventually a woman in the Jury asked:

"If you got here this morning, then how did you keep your clothes? When a Plus gets sent to Soul Society, they go through ticket management, before being sent to a district. All your belongings should've been stripped before you got thrown in here."

Kai replied, "Ticket management?? I never went through such a thing?"

And thus another new piece of knowledge was made known to Kai. Parking tickets existed in the afterlife.

The Jury began to speak among each other before another question was asked,

"If you truly never went through ticket management, then how did you get to Soul society?"

"Through a soul reaper?? Isn't that how everyone else got here?"

The jury began to whisper among each other even more, but this time to an even louder degree. The village elder getting annoyed by this, pulled out a wooden hammer and slammed it onto his podium.

"ORDER! ORDER!"

Everyone immediately silenced themselves. The village elder then asked,

"Can you please tell me, where are we right now?"

Kai was greatly confused by that question, and struggled to think up a response.

"The Soul Society?????"

The village elder heavily sighed.

"This is Rukongai Eastern district 64, Sabitsura. As the districts go from 1-80, the poorer they become. All districts below 59 can't even afford sandals, and even further down its more lawless. To be here, wearing the clothes that you have is extremely suspicious. And not only that, but you claim to have never gone through ticket management? It really is odd."

Kubo interrupted him, "So I was right! We should just execute him on the spot for what the higher ups have done to this place!"

The village elder's piercing gaze went straight through Kubo. Forcing him to submit.

"Interrupt me like that again, and I will silence you permanently.

He cleared his throat before continuing his list of suspicions.

"You are unaware of how souls age here, and you claim to have never gone through ticket inspection... but I'm willing to believe that everything you say is the truth."

Then the bald man next to the podium finally spoke,

"This is a rather brash decision of yours? Won't you at least detain him for a little longer? His story is incredibly suspicious."

"Even if I did that, he would have no place in this village once we let him go. I will watch over him personally by offering him a place in my home."

The jury shouted as they urged him to not make that choice, but he was very firm on his decision.

"Release him."

Two random men from the back, approached Kai from behind and cut the ropes that bound him. Finally getting free, the first thing he did was stretch.

"And then there is you. You irrationality almost got a random kid killed. Spend 5 days in the cell and reflect upon yourself."

The men, quickly grabbed Kubo by the arms before dragging him away as he screamed.

"Is he going to be okay?", Kai asked, but before The village elder could reply, his stomach groaned loudly.