My head hurts like hell—so does my whole body. I can't move at all. I can't even think straight. Everything hurts. It's cold… It's so cold here…
What's wrong with me? It hurts…
"Hey, how are you?" I hear a worried voice nearby. "Are you okay? Hang in there! Don't you dare die!"
I struggle to open my eyes. For some reason, one of them won't open.
I see the sky… a beautiful… blue sky…. Oh, how beautiful it is. How it draws me in and beckons me—like an ocean among the clouds... It calls to me… I can almost touch it. It's like silk… so beautiful.
I want to go there…
Someone appears in front of me.
"He's the only survivor…"
The only one…
A woman. She's saying something, but I can't hear her very well. The girl has short gray hair with small braids, a very nice figure—and what a boobs. Cool… Heh. I feel like a pervert, staring at her like that. I don't remember ever acting this way before…
How old am I? I don't remember. Who am I, anyway? Where am I? What's going on?
My head's a mess. So many thoughts… so much noise…
It's cold. I'm so cold. My body is stiff. I want to sleep.
I don't understand anything…
They pick me up and carry me somewhere…
I hear the clash of swords, the roar of monsters—Monsters? I didn't know they existed. I thought they were just fairy tales.
What's going on?
Soon I fall asleep.
***
I wake up to some kind of light… bright, warm, and pleasant. Good…
I'm lying on something soft, covered with a blanket. It's warm. I feel calm…
When I open my eyes, I see that girl again. She's beautiful…
"Oh, you're awake?" she asks with a kind smile. "Everything will be fine. I'm Isane. What's your name?"
I open my mouth but don't know what to say. I don't remember. I don't remember anything.
Who am I?
"Who… am I…?" I croak. My throat hurts.
Isane immediately hands me a glass of some kind of swill, but the pain almost vanishes. The taste, though—horrible.
"You don't remember your name?"
I shake my head.
"Have you recently passed away?" she asks suddenly a strange question.
I look at her in surprise—with the only eye that opens.
"Judging by your clothes, that's the case," she nods. "Okay, I'll tell you…"
And she tells me—everything.
Yeah. I didn't expect it to be that bad. Turns out I died. I died and became a soul. I was transported to the Soul Society, a place where all lost souls go—those who, for some reason, cannot be reborn. They live here until they find something and ascend to the Stream of Rebirth.
She called herself a Shinigami—a Guide of Souls who protects them from evil spirits that want to devour everyone: the Hollows.
When I crossed over, I ended up in the 80th district of the only city here—Rukongai—the poorest and most crime-ridden place. It was during a Hollow attack. I was wounded, and a Shinigami picked me up.
That's how it was. A difficult story to grasp.
I was so deep in thought, pondering her words, that I didn't notice she'd gone.
Isane had left me and gone somewhere.
After hearing her story, I sat there for a long time, lost in thought. Heavy questions lingered in my mind, and I couldn't comprehend what I'd just learned. It was too wild.
Yes, I seem to feel something around me—but it's all too unreal.
Many things in her story seemed strange for me. For example—a poor district? How can there be a poor district in the world of the dead? We're dead—what do we need? But in this world, souls seem to need food and sleep. It's kind of silly.
Although… I do feel hungry myself.
And a "safe" place? It seems the Shinigami aren't interested in protecting souls so much as in keeping them from being eaten by the Hollows.
And do the dead really have so little food or money that they can't feed everyone? We're dead, aren't we? Did many souls suffer poverty and hunger only to experience the same thing again after death?
What a disgusting world. I don't like it. At all.
And I don't like these Shinigami. They seem to hold a much higher status here than anyone else.
Although, she said only strong souls feel hunger. The stronger the soul, the closer it is to the living. Living souls lose the advantages of the weak—freedom from hunger and intangibility—but they have a chance to become much stronger, even to rise as Guides.
But, as I also understood, unlike the others, the Shinigami live comfortably and can defend themselves.
I don't know who I am, where I'm from, or anything else. I have nowhere to go. What should I do?
It's strange. I seem to be a child. I know I'm about ten years old, but I don't feel like one. But at the same time, I am a child. My hands are small. Thin.
Next to my bed is a nightstand with that same bitter drink and a mirror.
I look at my reflection…and wish I hadn't…
No, it's fine that I'm a child. I'm not surprised. I think I was, even though I feel much older. The bandage over my left eye is fine too. The other one is big and blue. My hair is black and short.
But damn it—I look like a girl! Seriously!
No, I'm a guy—I checked. But my face is so cute I could melt myself. A nightmare. I'm way too cute for a guy.
THIS IS HORRIBLE! Save me! Give me a beard, urgently!
Then the door opens, and a red-haired girl with impressive… eyes appears in it. The neckline is so deep you could hide a dog in there.
"Isane, you—" She stops when she sees me.
She looks at me. I look at her.
A silent moment.
"KAWAII~!!!" she screams and rushes at me.
Being wounded, I can't do anything to resist he, and she pulled me into her arms. It suddenly became difficult to breathe; she almost suffocated me with her... eyes.
"Take those watermelons away," I gasp from somewhere inside. "Oxyge…"
"Oh!" She lets go, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."
I'm trying to catch my breath.