Bleach: New Generation

Chapter 36: Kaito Hisagi, Resolve

Kaito's POV:

My friend is awesome.

Man, I wish I could've seen that fight with Kazui and Captain Zaraki. Why did I have to go and get the medication? Not to mention I messed up, but we'll skip over that fact. The description I got from my dad made me think how powerful Kazui was to withstand attacks like that from the captain of Division 11, which is the most powerful and aggressive one in the whole of the Gotei 13. His fight with Captain Muguruma may be good, but I would've bet his fight with Captain Zaraki was even better.

Before, I would've not been as engaged in fighting than now. But something about watching Kazui fight showed me why I should begin again. This fact goes way back at the Spiritual Arts Academy.

I was at the top of the class, but never really satisfied. I trained again and again but never truly felt any more powerful than I am now. My true goal was to serve and protect the Seireitei from any threats that came our way. After a couple years, I graduated from there along with Ichika at the top. And now here I am, with the rest of the Soul Reapers in the Gotei 13.

I made a promise that I would try my best to Kazui and Ichika that I would get stronger, but that felt like I didn't mean it. My true resolve was when I came to the Rukongai today.

I made my usual rounds around the Seireitei, greeting every familiar face I met and talking to my fellow Soul Reapers. With no surprise, most of the subjects of our conversations were about my Shikai.

"Kaito! I never seen your Shikai before. Why don't you use it?", one asked curiously.

"I prefer not to use it, and to become a Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13, you don't have to use a Shikai, right?", I answered politely.

It normally went like this, and then we'd skip to another subject like lunch. While me and my friends were speaking, we were interrupted by a particular lieutenant.

"Oh, hey dad- I mean, Lieutenant Hisagi. What brings you here to the 3rd Division?"

"I kinda need to ask you a favour. Its nothing too big, so don't worry", said Shuhei Hisagi, "I just want you to investigate something in the Rukon District. Just some disappearances in District 28. It was supposed to be for me, but I got some things to do with the newspaper for the Seireitei"

"Ah, dad...shouldn't you just quit the newspaper. You got lieutenant duties or whatever, right?", I rubbed the back of my head, contemplating the situation.

"I kept journalism in the Seireitei alive, mind you. And I'm proud of being a journalist", scoffed Dad.

"We get it. Yeah yeah, I'll check it out", I waved my hand and then waved to Squad 3 and then turned back to dad, "I'll see you later"

I flash stepped into the distance towards my next mission.

It took a while, but I finally arrived to the Rukongai, district 28. The place was vast, with run down buildings made of wood. There were no trees in sight, just sand and dirt covering the land that seemed to never end. People with ragged clothing walked past me, staring at the Soul Reaper who had just arrived in their home. Compared to the Seireitei, this place was nothing but poor and broken. I felt bad that people lived in these conditions.

Walking around the streets of the Rukongai, I could see that this place felt almost endless. The cracked stone on the footpath, the broken trees with no green, and the run-down houses kept on repeating. That was until I noticed that the number of people I had passed had decreased. From where I was standing, the place seemed like it was deserted. The environment was silent, not a single voice heard, nor a single sound made. The blowing of wind was the only sound that was finally heard as dust blew across my view. There was something off about this place, and it was clear.