Chapter 1

A flash of green, a yelled curse, darkness, fear. A young boy's eyes suddenly flicked open. His mind was a blur and his thoughts muddled as he sat up and looked around. Trees filled his vision, his head spun and so did the trees as he attempted to stand. His hand found steadiness on a tree his vision slowly stabilising. Trees, a lake, moss covered rocks, birds twittering in the trees. A small hare hopped across the clearing that the boy found himself in. The boy attempted to clear his thoughts, to comprehend where he was and how he had got here. Nothing. He remembered nothing. Thinking again he tried to remember anything at all. The boy knew that there were important things and important people that he needed to remember and yet there seemed nothing forthcoming. The boy became worried and scared, a tear gently making its way down his face and then another and another. Soon the young boy was sitting on the floor, his hands over his face as uncontrollable sobs wracked his body.

'Now, now, little one' a male voice spoke out, deep and soothing. The boy jumped at the voice that seemed to be coming from inside his head. 'There's no need to cry.' The boy was surprisingly calmed by the voice even though he had no explanation as to where it was coming from. The tears falling from the boy's eyes ceased as he thought about how to respond to the voice.

"Who…Who are you?" the boy's voice filled the quite clearing as he whispered the question. For some reason the voice seemed higher pitched and younger than what he thought it should be. He had no memory of speaking differently and yet his voice just seemed to sound wrong. As he thought about the peculiar nature of these thoughts and where they had come from the voice inside his head began to speak again.

'You are not ready to know my name, little one.' the voice said, deep and rumbling 'All you need to know is that I am a friend and that I am here to help you. I wish you no harm.' the voice sounded kind and sincere. It was a voice that the boy seemed to automatically trust. 'Now little one, why don't you pick yourself up and go get a drink from that lake over there. You seem to need it.' The little boy did as guided. He pushed his body up, it seemed smaller than it ought to be. His wobbly legs led him towards the pool of crystal clear water. He knelt down before it and saw a face staring back at him. A young boy, of around six, with shaggy black hair and sparkling green eyes stared back at him. The image was broken as as the boy scooped water into his hands swallowing gulps in quick succession. As the boy finished his drinking the voice spoke to him again.

'Now that you have quenched your thirst I feel that you need a name, don't you?' the voice was filled with humour as it spoke, though it was not mocking. The boy felt himself nodding in response to the voice. If he did not have a name how could he hope to create an identity in this world. He needed a purpose and a name was a good point to start. 'I think that we should call you Koji. It means little one and I think it suits you perfectly' the voice finished and a laugh filled Koji's head, showing the humour that the voice found in his own suggestion. The boy nodded, accepting the name that the voice suggested and the newly dubbed Koji stood up and explored the new land that he had found himself in.

It had been a week since Koji had arrived in the forest and he was still trying to find out about this new world. Currently he found himself in a tree as he watched a group of men walking through the forest. The men were dressed in raged clothes, knives and swords filling their hands. They were not the first group that Koji had seen making their way through the forest. However they seemed to be the most heavily armed. Koji sat munching on some berries that the friendly voice had told him were edible and they filled the hunger that he had been suppressing for the last few hours. Koji always seemed to be hungry, never satisfied with the small amount of food that he could find for himself. As the armed group made their way through the forest, a small fight broke out between two of the members of the group. The two started to shout at each other, pushing and shoving, the violence of the actions becoming more and more extreme as the seconds ticked by. The taller of the two men pulled out a knife and Koji watched as he plunged said dagger directly into the smaller man's chest. The man fell to the ground, blood spilling from the wound and then from his mouth as he coughed. The group then continued on their way, leaving the body of the man on the forest floor, not caring for his body enough to bury it before they moved on.

Koji waited and waited, each minute feeling like an age as he tried to comprehend what it was that he had just witnessed. He found himself frozen in place and his mind began to shut down. He tried to understand how life could just be ended so quickly and violently. He closed his eyes and tried to control the swirling thoughts that were circling around in his head. Koji suddenly found himself in a clearing of forest, but this one was far different from the one that he knew that he was sitting in. The ground was covered in a thick layer of leaves, oranges, browns and reds. The trees were tall and looming, covered in the same coloured leaves. The sun was high in the sky but not scorchingly hot. A gentle breeze rushed through the forest, the leaves rustling and a few falling from their branches. In the centre of the clearing stood a man. His hair was the same colour as the leaves on the floor, a mixture of reds, oranges and browns that flowed down his back in waves. He wore a pair of black trousers, tight and fitting him like a second skin. He also wore a pair of black combat boots that looked as though they could crush your skull with a single step. The outfit was completed with an open black robe that reached the man's thighs. The open robe revealed the man's muscled chest. The man's blue eyes sparkled as he looked at Koji.

"Well hello Koji. It's nice to finally meet you in person the man said grinning.' Koji's jaw dropped as he recognised the voice as that of the friendly stranger that talked to him in his head. The two had been talking more and more with each passing day as the man helped Koji understand the new world that he was in. Koji looked on in awe at the man before him. He seemed to radiate power from every atom of his being. His tall, muscled stature looming over Koji's small and delicate one. 'Not that I wouldn't love to continue our conversation but you need to leave' the man said, the smile dropping from his face as he became much more serious. He placed his large hand on Koji's head, ruffling his hair gently as he spoke.

'There are people coming to investigate the man you just witnessed the death of. These people are ones that will notice you sitting in this tree. I need you to climb down and follow the path that you found two days ago. It will lead you away from here and away from the danger that approaches.' With that the man knelt down in front of Koji and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. He brought his lips to the boy's ears and whispered urgently 'now go!'

Koji's eyes snapped open and he climbed down the tree as quickly as he could. Koji's eyes quickly glanced at the dead man lying on his back, his eyes glassy and unmoving. Koji made a rash decision, he ran over to the man and pulled, with a large amount of struggling, the dagger from his chest. Blood splattered from the wound and Koji wiped the congealed blood on the knife onto the tattered trousers of the dead man. He then tucked the dagger into the pocket of the raggedy trousers that he had been dressed in when he had woken up in this place. Koji then sprinted towards the path that his friend had talked about. He ran along the path, his little legs pumping as fast as they could. He kept running and running until he could run no more.

As Koji stopped and looked around he noticed that he had reached the edge of the forest. The trees had thinned and there seemed to be a town of sorts further down the path. Koji, unsure of what action to take next sat on a tree stump and managed to bring his breathing under his control again. He then whispered aloud asking the only possible listener what he should do next. His friend remained silent, leaving the decision up to himself. Koji spent several minutes making a decision. As the sun began to set in the sky he realised that going into an unknown location at night was not a good idea. Koji therefore made his way , several meters, back into the forest before he claimed up a tall enough tree and settling down for the night. Koji decided that he would explore the town during the day tomorrow. He could always return to the forest if the place was unsafe.

The next morning Koji awoke to light streaming through the leaves of the trees and he readied himself for a new day in this unknown world. He climbed down the tree and grabbed a few of the berries from a nearby bush to temporarily sate his hunger. It was not filling enough but it subdued the hunger pangs for a time. Koji made his way down the path that led towards the town, clutching the dagger in his pocket, tightly. He was ready to use it at a moments notice. Due to the early hour of the day Koji saw very few people in the town. He walked around the streets seeing dilapidated houses in urgent need of disrepair lining the streets. He also saw people dressed in rags similar to his own. Koji waved to a child around his age as the child played with a beaten up, old ball. The boy kicked the ball to Koji, a grin lighting up his dirty face. Koji kicked it bask and the two played a small game. As time passed several more children joined in the game and Koji, for a time, forgot about the strange world he was in and simply enjoyed his time playing.

However the peace was ended as one small girl kicked the ball too hard causing it to smash one of the only remaining intact widows on the street. The glass crystals clattered as they fell to the floor. One of the children yelled for them all to run at the top of their lungs. Koji, not knowing what else to do followed the child's advice and sprinted away from the scene of the crime. He ran down an alley and away from the rest of the children. His feet guiding the way with no input from his brain. Koji continued to run util he reached a dead end. He sat down and breathed deeply trying to make up for the lack of oxygen. The thought crossed his mind that if he would be running this much on a regular basis that he really needed to become a little more fit.

As Koji finally caught his breath and stood up to find his way back to the main street he was tackled to the ground by a much bigger man. Said man had oily, dirty hair, rotted teeth and breath bad enough to knock someone out. He sat atop of Koji and demanded that he hand over any money that he had. Koji was dumbfounded, he had nothing except the dagger and a few berries in his pocket. He attempted to stutter out that he did have anything but the man didn't let him. He simply shouted again that Koji was to give him all his money.

'Little one, this man is insane and he will not let you go without money. You need to get rid of him.' Koji agreed with his friend. This man was going to kill him unless Koji managed to do it first. He attempted to reach for the dagger but his left hand was trapped under the man's knee and so, the dagger being in his left pocket, was unreachable. Koji began to panic as he realised that he had no way out. This man was going to kill him and there was nothing that he could do about it.

'Little one, I need you to calm down.' the voice said soothingly. 'I need you to breath for me, in and out, in and out. There you go.' Koji managed to calm down slightly even as the weight from the man on his chest became almost unbearable and the man's demands became more unreasonable. 'Now Koji you need to focus. I want you to imagine a great power building up in your right hand. Now let it build and build but don't let it go just yet. There you go, thats it' the voice said reassuringly. 'Now bring that hand to this piece of scum's chest' Koji did as he was told and brought his hand to where he though the man's heart should be. 'Now. Let go Koji' and Koji did. The power burst from his hand in a flash of orange light and the man was thrown backwards off Koji and part way down the alley. Koji lay panting on the ground. It felt as though all his energy had been sapped from him. His eyes felt heavy ad all he wanted to do was sleep.

Meanwhile in another part of the dilapidated area that was district 80 two high ranking Shinigami looked at each other in shock. Shinji Hirako and Kisuke Urahara. The two had been attempting to discuss the peculiarities that had been occurring within the soul society in the past few years without there being any chance of any other Shinigami overhearing their conversation hence their rendezvous in the outer district. Therefore when they felt a strong spiritual pressure fill the air the two became unnerved. Their topic of conversation was a dangerous one. Therefore when they felt the presence of another Shinigami and a strong one at that they flash stepped as fast as they could towards the source of the power.

As the two of them reached the alleyway they were shocked to see the collapsed form of a small boy and a dead man. The boy was pale, dirty and almost naked except for a pair of raged, ripped trousers. As the pair approached the small figure they noticed that they could feel the spiritual power coming off the boy in waves. Shinji walked closer towards the small boy and picked him up. He cradled the small boy to his chest before flash stepping away. He needed to get the boy to Unohana as quickly as possible.