At the same time as Cheshire returned to greet her next patients, seemingly far away from the darkness hiding within the depths of the Seireitei, a different kind of chaos was occurring.
One that may as well have been an everyday occurrence for the vast majority of soul society.
In one of the many districts there was a bustling market where it was hard to even talk to a companion beside you due to all the merchants hawking their wares. A constant buzz echoed throughout the entire district as one could hear the liveliness even far from the actual market itself. Even though the individual voices long faded; those shouts intertwined into a background hum that was filled with life.
For a peace loving introvert it may as well have been torture but for others it was truly an unmissable destination due to the excitement everyone radiated. Products ranging from clothing to weaponry were widely traded. Though such weaponry would obviously do little to a hollow… It had other uses.
Of course where there is such activity, wealth constantly changing hands, there will also be the ever present threat of crime.
A child no older than 10 clung to the allies where they looked out into the streets with a hand absentmindedly rubbing their aching stomach. Being a fairly new arrival they were barely outside the shock of dying only to find themselves in yet another set of streets. Though little changed for him.
The street urchin just became a bother in some other place; though they quickly found this place to be far stranger than where they had previously lived. First was an internal situation that they couldn't even begin to wrap their head around - they hadn't eaten for days now. Still their hunger was only slightly present.
Still present but not the gnawing sensation, as if their stomach was attempting to rip its way outside his empty guts, he would have expected when he was alive.
Not that he truly understood that he died.
No one was kind enough to tell him that kind of information since everyone had their own problems.
What else caught his attention, especially now that he was making sure, was that nobody here seemed to be handling yen even when doing bigger trades. Instead they used these weirdly "chips" that had white centers with a number printed on them and colourful ridged edges. On the back of each was some logo.
He guessed it was likely some new currency that a gang was using or something as he had already checked and easily found a casino. It wasn't even attempting to hide from the law which confused him greatly. In fact it was by far the wealthiest building he had seen within the settlement.
Which begged a question.
It made no sense that he hadn't seen at least one or two guards roaming around such a heavily populated marketplace. Even more shocking was he hadn't seen any gang enforcers. There was even a lack of any visible yakuza so he truly was baffled at how such a market could thrive without any of these.
Although he managed to get close enough to hear people discuss, overhearing them being called "poker chips from The Gambler", he was scared to risk pickpocketing. Without knowing who or what was maintaining order as well as how they did it… Well he learned his lesson plenty while on the streets.
Still a faint grumble from his stomach reminded him he didn't have much of a choice but to take the risky plunge eventually. Of course he already had a mark chosen. In fact he was hidden next to that very same target at this very moment; a simple stand that was simply selling some type of bread.
As much as he would love to get some of that strange currency in hopes of making some sense out of this wacky place…
It was stupid to steal that instead of going directly for the thing he actually needed.
So, with one last deep gulp of air, he struck out the alley with a faintly lowered posture like a hound on the hunt as his experience told him it made him less audible. Purposefully remaining just out of the stall owner's immediate vision. Purposefully avoiding moving too fast or slow as both would be suspicious to not only him but everyone else wandering past.
Fortunately the people here seemed to care even less about one another than the average person from his last "job site" as he promptly made it to the stall. His next move would need to be done with utmost caution and-
"HEY!"
-he proceeded to just dart past - grabbing a loaf for his troubles - before continuing to sprint full force through the crowd. Ducking into an alley when he should have been just out of sight as he began to enjoy his reward for a successful job. What he didn't expect to see when he turned around was the stall owner sprinting at him with a face looking like an enraged bull.
Flared nostrils and all.
Slung over his shoulder was a massive pouch full of the rest of his merchandise that the man quickly tried to use like a flail; bringing it down to try to crush the brat below and reclaim what was his. Fortunately the sheer joly of shock this sight brought to the boy sent him stumbling back. Allowing him to dodge the blow through pure luck.
Now sat on the floor looking at the sack of bread that slammed into the ground in front of him without understanding what just happened. Fortunately a guardian angel arrived. A hand reaching out to grab his upper arm to drag him up to his feet with more power than he thought such a tiny body could handle.
Not that he was any bigger than the girl who was doing it.
"What are you spacing out for; get your ass moving fool!"
A short girl who looked to be in her later teens, hair in something akin to a bowl cut with hair longer at the back along with an ahoge on top, with big eyes and a confident smirk. Her clothes weren't rags. Decent quality - certainly better than your regular urchin - but certainly worn for quite some time.
She quickly dragged him through the alleys with the level of precision and speed that could only come from years of experience.
Yet the sounds of heavy breathing behind them revealed that this wasn't enough - unable to resist his curiosity he turned around just in time to see that man. Strangely, despite their shorter legs, they weren't exactly slower than him. Still that didn't mean he showed any intention of giving up.
The boy had to wonder if a single loaf of bread was really worth as much as all the water going to waste as sweat poured from every pore he had. With that monstrous man losing no speed despite his current state; the boy could only wonder how the girl planned to lose him. An answer he soon found.
She soon arrived with him into a more open area that was surrounded on all sides by walls; whether by fences or something more sturdy.
Seeing there was no escape, the two of them backing into a corner between two buildings, he panicked.
"W-What are you planning to do?!"
She glanced at him with a faint frown on her face as she looked back at the bull-like baker who was slowly stalking toward them with that sack over his shoulder. Carefully approaching in case one of them tried to certainly dart away. The last thing he wanted to do was allow them to get behind him.
Yet as he finally got closer a cat-like smirk found its way on her lips as she shocked everyone by quickly shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Renji now!"
"RAAAAAAA!"
Neither were able to get over their shock when a "warrior cry" erupted from the rooftop behind the younger pair causing the two males to look up. Just in time to see a pine-apple haired boy, maybe a bit older than Rukia was, jumping off with a metal bucket clutched between his hands. Neither able to react before that very same bucket found its way overtop the head of the enraged baker.
*DONG*
The top of his head hitting the bottom of the bucket rang out as Renji quickly jumped away just as a bunch more kids of varying ages leapt off. Each holding some long "weapon". Whether it was a plank of wood, a pipe or even a fishing road. It didn't matter as they all served the exact same purpose.
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
When they were finally done the man…
It was safe to say he was down for the count.
The street urchin who had stolen the bread could only watch in bafflement as he saw Renji walk up to grab the sack full of bread from the man before handing some out to the smaller kids. Or at least that seemed like it was going to be the case. Before it reached the kids he quickly pulled it back while grinning at their pouting faces.
"What do we say?"
Some grumbled but they answered all the same.
"""Thank you for the food!"""
With that he freely handed out the bread with a big grin on his face; occasionally taking the chance to ruffle some hair or pat some shoulders. Not caring that a few of the kids gave him glares as they fixed their hair or rubbed their arms. Still it was clear that it was all in good fun.
Looking at the older boy freely handing out the loafs he could only look down at the one in his own hands and feel like he fell short.
"Stop stalling, this isn't Munzumira territory, last thing we need is The Gambler finding us and dolling out some justice on your scrawny asses!"
"Why wouldn't she punish you, big sis Rukia?"
To that the thief turned from Renji to look toward Rukia who had sneaked away from his side while he had stood there in shock at the series of events. She was now standing in front of what looked like some random tarp draped over a fence. Pulling it aside with a smug smile to show a hole in the fence.
"Because I'll be long gone and safely in crow territory before she can catch me~."
Ducking into the hole with a cocky grin on her face.
Though almost immediately Rukia collided with someone. The person in question didn't even budge despite her own strength being above the average random soul due to her high spiritual power. Finding herself sprawled across the dirty floor with a thud.
"Oh my~ seems that I need to pay more attention~♪"
A beautiful voice that perfectly fell between not to masculine or feminine caused the girl to be momentarily lost but not due to the beauty of it.
Instead a chilling shiver consumed her that she couldn't understand.
Looking up only to find himself in the shadow of a truly monstrous tall bastard - easily towering over everyone else within the district. Obviously a kid couldn't exactly put a number to such a height yet that person was tall enough to completely shroud Rukia within their shadow. A halo of light defining their silhouette but not any other defining feature.
At least that should have been the case with the sun being blocked out by their sheer stature as they hovered over her. Yet strangely their twin purple-ish blue eyes, each a slightly different shade, glowed as they looked down on her. Gleaming white teeth pulled up into a terrifying smile as no lips could be seen.
Those teeth looked more like they belonged to a hunting hound than a human.
Fragments of a night she tried to forget so desperately - one she had locked away for good - began to simmer just under the surface of her mind. Her sister who she didn't remember getting swept off the streets and a pitiful attempt to follow after. Then a rescue that went horribly wrong…
She could only lie there trembling with no thoughts going through her mind; completely freezing up as that figure just loomed over her for a moment. Tilting their head as a finger tapped their chin. Unable to understand why that child was so scared when they hadn't done anything yet.
"Hm… Well not like a kid like you can do anything; not like you'll survive that freakish beast she sent on my trail so I guess I'll just leave you to your fate since I don't want to waste time…"
Sounding disappointed as they vanished just as quickly as they arrived yet still Rukia didn't move from her spot as her mind and body simply failed to function.