Here and There

Greenroom II

Soul Society prior to the start of the story was a lawless, insane, hot mess of a society. The humans reborn here didn't retain their memories of their past life and consequently, it was like humanity had to start over here.

Except they aged more slowly and were roughly introduced to using reiatsu, as they call it in this world.

And for some insane reason, they were much more aggressive as shinigami than as humans. Likely due to something about this world that the Soul King created. I couldn't discount the possibility that because it was the Soul King who created it instead of the Great Nobles that could be a potential side effect.

Coming into this world with memories, I could easily compare how this world felt against other worlds and there was definitely... something off about it.

It wasn't inherently bad, per se, but it was perturbing. It was hard to put it into words, but—like—

Like going out to stay at a hotel that at first glance looks pretty nice. It's got a soft bed, a TV, a strong AC, and one heck of a nice view. But then when you lift the blankets up you see red stains. Now, those stains aren't inherently blood—they could have been spilled soap that didn't get washed out, or whatever, but it wasn't exactly good, you know?

It didn't mean it was an evil room, or that something bad had happened there. Just... something was off about it, yeah?

I don't know. Maybe that's a bad example.

But that's how I felt while living in the new "Soul Society."

I had pulled back the covers of a nice hotel bed and found a red stain.

Blood, soap, or maybe something else entirely?

Either way, cleaning was necessary.

Where did I want to start, though?

It took Genryūsai two thousand years to advance Soul Society to where it stood at the start of the story. To change the ending, did I want to speed this process up, or keep it at the same pace?

'Hmm, hmm, hmm...'

Well! Regardless, I had to start with training Genryūsai up as soon as possible, so he could help establish order. Chaos was fun, but I really wanted paved streets and plumbing.

(◕▾◕✿)

85 B.C. (A couple centuries after the world was split by the Soul King)

Those deemed strong enough in the Soul Society were granted zanpakutōs. I wasn't familiar with how the process was started, but those were the general whispers on the street. People who were strong could find the swordmaster, and he would forge for them a powerful weapon that would eventually be known as the zanpakutō. The forgemaster, Ōetsu Nimaiya, currently resided as one of the two Royal Guards for the Soul King but he visited Soul Society once a week to test out potential warriors. If they were strong enough to earn the sword, they might one day be strong enough to join the Royal Guard.

Genryūsai would inevitably obtain his infamous zanpakutō sword soon enough, but since he was still a child that wouldn't be a for a while.

A feisty child that hated baths, but a child nonetheless.

Speaking of the devil...

Genryūsai was watching me behind the trees of our farmhouse while I prepared the potato patch. He thought he was being clever in repressing his spiritual energy—reiatsu—but he wasn't experienced enough at it to hide it from me.

Plus his butt was sticking out from behind the tree as he leaned around it to peer at me suspiciously.

'Wonder what he's up to,' I thought, half-amused. He hadn't objected when I brought him food and offered him a place to sleep off the rough streets of the Soul Society. But the longer he stayed with me, the more suspicious he started to become of me.