About to Die Soon

Knock knock!

Knocks rang out the door as Seimei stood outside the door.

"Come in."

The stoic voice of Kuchiki Sojun rang out from within the door.

Seimei opened the door for him to Kuchiki Sojun's head buried in a small pile of paperwork.

The frail figure of Sojun felt even more frail.

"Are you fine, lieutenant…?"

Seimei asked with a weird tone in his voice.

Sojun looked at him with dark circles under his eyes and smiled at Seimei.

"Ah yes. I am fine, do not worry."

Seimei didn't believe it but nonetheless had to continue to ask what he'd come there for the first place.

"Could I ask why I have been called today?"

Seimei asked.

"Oh yes."

Sojun stood up from his seat as he walked to Seimei.

"I asked you to come here, to let you make a decision. Normally you'd have been manually put into this position and you'd have been directly informed of this at the end but I decided to inform you of tis from the start."

Sojun smiled as he spoke to Seimei.

"Currently there's 2 positions available for you. One would be for you to be as the appointed Shinigami of a town in the modern world and another would be for you to stay here within Soul Society."

Seimei understood why he'd been called.

He also knew that he had just gotten the perfect chance for him to gain some combat experience.

So, he decided.

"I'd like to appointed in a town in the human world."

"I see, very well. But do be aware, this isn't a compulsory position for us 6th Division. As such, you might encounter with Shinigami from other division. Is that fine with you?"

Seimei nodded and replied positively.

"Yes."

Sojun smiled, seeming satisfied with his decision.

He walked towards his desk and pulled out a palm-sized, lightbulb-shaped glass stone. It looked familiar to Seimei but he couldn't exactly remember where it was from.

Sojun threw it to Seimei who catched it easily and looked over it.

"This is your denreishinki. You'll receive your Jigokucho after I deliver your decision to the Captain-commander. You are free to leave if so you so desire."

Seimei nodded as he walked outside the room. He put his hand on top of his Zanpakuto as he moved forwards, a feeling he found comfortable after a while of doing it.

As Seimei walked outside the door, he suddenly felt lost.

He had come into the soul society just a day ago but he already was about to leave.

'But perhaps this is a good thing, maybe when I come back, there'll be characters who are familiar to me.'

As he walked outside, Kuchiki Sojun appeared next to him.

He extended his hands, a black butterfly flying out of it.

Sojun nodded toward's Seimei's hand as Seimei extended his hand the the Jigokucho rested on his hand. He moved it towards his shoulder as he brought out his Zanpakuto.

"You must have learned the spell to open the Senkaimon while in the academy, yes?"

Seimei nodded.

The Zanpakuto pierced thin air, as Seimei moved it sidewards. It was like turning a key.

Seimei slowly muttered, "Release!" as a pink-bluish light erupted from the area. It slowly morphed into a circular Shoji, a traditional Japanese room divider.

The Jigokucho floated in front of Seimei as he looked towards Sojun, who nodded towards him with a smile on his face.

"Go."

He simply spoke. It was like an elder brother telling his little brother to go.

"Alright."

Seimei smiled as he moved through the door, moving into the human world.

***

Swoosh!

A Japanese Shoji erupted from the middle of nowhere in the sky as a young man walked out from the Shoji.

He was wearing the standard Shinigami attire. He had a traditional Japanese katana on his waist as his black hair flew around due to the blowing wind.

An invisible pressure could be felt around him as the Senkaimon closed behind him, with his Jigokucho slowly disappearing.

Seimei looked around his surroundings. It looked like what Edo Japan was depicted in the modern world.

Just as Seimei stepped out from the gate, he felt the presence of a familiar Reiatsu.

It was the Reiatsu of a Shinigami.

A man who looked like he was in his 30s walked to Seimei. He was also wearing a shihakusho, with a similar katana on his waist as Seimei, overall; he looked like any other Shinigami within the Soul Society.

"Who are you?" The Shinigami asked?

Seimei nodded towards the Shinigami and spoke.

"My name is Hitotsu Seimei, I've been sent by Lieutenant Kuchiki Sojun."

The Shinigami frowned.

"Sent? But I've already been stationed here. Well whatever, as long as you don't get in my way, you can stay here."

Seimei didn't like the way the Shinigami spoke to him. It was as though he was being looked down upon, a feeling he didn't particularly like.

But Seimei had a question he wanted to ask him so he didn't pick a fight with the Shinigami. Besides, what if the Shinigami was stronger than him? Wouldn't he have offended someone who could possibly crush him?

After all it was never a bad idea to be cautious.

"Excuse me, could you answer a question of mine?"

Seimei asked with a polite tone.

The Shinigami looked back at Seimei, confused why he'd ask such a question but nodded affirmatively.

"What era is it in the living world right now?"

Seimei asked. He knew that he had been throw into the bleach world a long time before the main plot but didn't know how long.

So, he decided to use the modern time frame as a reference to know where he was.

"Hmm. I think humans are calling this era the Tokugawa Era?"

The Shinigami thought about it for a while and then he answered.

"I see. Do you know what year it is?"

"I think its 1749? Or 1849? I'm not sure, since I was never curious about the matters of the human world. I'll be transferred away from this place soon after all. Besides, why do you care about the time so much?"

'How could I make a guess from a whole century...'

Seimei scratched his head. He couldn't tell the Shinigami that he wanted to know how many years it would take for the plot to officially start, after all that wouldn't make sense.

So, he had to come up with an excuse. But fortunately, it seemed like the Shinigami wasn't bothered enough to learn about the answer since he just Hohō'd away from the place.

Seimei shook his head. He now knew that he was in the Edo era.

But the Edo era existed for almost 250 years, so it wasn't an accurate denomination of time.

'How bothersome…' Seimei thought.

He didn't want to interact with humans, but it seemed like he had no choice.

Seimei landed on the floor and walked into a corridor with no people around.

He reached his hand into his portable bag and pulled out a human figure that looked like him.

It was wearing a casual black and grey kimono with a blue haori hakama. It looked similar to his Shinigami outfit, excluding the fact that it didn't have the hakama but one single kimono. He had a gray haori draped on it finishing the look. [Picture in the comments]

The gigai was standing on its feet. Seimei stood and walked into the gigai. But instead of crashing into the gigai, he entered in.

The gigai's eyes opened as Seimei's voice rang out from within the gigai.

"Being in a human body after so long feels a little uncomfortable."

Seimei moved his limbs and tried to stretch his limbs but the restricting outfit and his stiff movements didn't help to it at all.

"Sigh. Guess I'll have to slowly get used to it."

Seimei walked out the shadows with a bamboo hat on his head.

His attire and clothing matched the one of the current era's, so he didn't stand out.

"Let's see."

He reached his hand into his sleeve and pulled out the denreishinki that Sojun had given to him.

The denreishinki didn't show any Reiatsu sources other than his own.

'Seems there are no hollows nearby. That's a good thing perhaps.'

Even though he said that, he felt slightly disappointed, he didn't know why.

Seimei shook his head as he started making future plans for his stay in the human world.

He put the denreishinki back into his sleeve and started walking through the market.

A bustling crowd of edo era Japanese people walked through the road. Some pulling carriages, some walking with bags on their necks, Some pulling human ridden trollies.

It gave Seimei a sensation of peace, as though he'd returned to the modern world but without the cars or high-rise buildings.

***

Seimei sat down on a bench as he brought out some coins in his hand, placing them into his pouch.

The coins and the pouch were "gifted" to him by some thieves, who thought he was and easy target after seeing his clothes and stature.

"What would you like to eat?"

As he had sat down, a young girl walked towards Seimei.

She had short shoulder length wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and a beauty mark located under the right side of her mouth. She was wearing a child's kimono, suiting her quite well.

She looked as though she was 5 or 6 years old. The same age as when Seimei had reincarnated in the Soul Society.

Seimei felt as though he'd seen her somewhere. As if Seimei had seen her somewhere before. She felt very familiar. Just that he couldn't pinpoint where he'd seen her.

"Uh? Would you like to order something…?"

When the girl saw that Seimei was spacing out, she asked him again.

"Ah, yes. I'd like to order 2 sticks of dango and a cup of tea."

Seimei smiled as he told the girl.

"Very well." She bowed and went back inside the house.

'Where have I seen her before…'

Seimei was thinking about where he'd seen the girl before when he heard a call from inside.

"Rangiku-chan! The dango and tea is ready! Take it to the customer will you."

"Ah, okay!"

As soon as he heard that, something clicked in his mind.

The little girl was none other than Matsumoto Rangiku, the vice-captain of the 10th Division and the childhood friend of Ichimaru Gin.

Yet other than that, something else came to his mind too.

The current Matsumoto Rangiku looked the same age as the one who first met Ichimaru Gin.

That could only mean one thing.

The Matsumoto Rangiku of the living world was about to die.

And it would happen soon.