First Arrival in Soul Society

The unfamiliar sight before him left Liu Hao dazed for a moment. Several dilapidated, low-thatched huts stood crookedly beneath a gloomy sky, and thin, cool Reishi drifted through the air. He distinctly remembered falling asleep at home...

A rustle of footsteps reached him. He looked up and saw several children in ragged clothes emerge from the most rundown hut and slowly approach. When he got a clear look at the two in front, Liu Hao's breath caught—brilliant red hair, a petite girl with a resolute expression... Renji Abarai? Rukia Kuchiki?!

The shock set his mind roaring. The world of Bleach?! I've transmigrated?! And I've landed right in the main cast's childhood?!

"Hey, who are you?" the red-haired boy asked warily, his voice carrying the rasp peculiar to someone his age.

"Liu Hao." He suppressed his turbulent thoughts and answered as calmly as he could.

"Where'd you come from?" Renji pressed, studying him.

"I don't know." Liu Hao shook his head, a genuine look of confusion appearing on his face at just the right moment. "I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I was here."

"Huh? Went to sleep?" Renji frowned, plainly unconvinced.

Rukia sized him up from beside Renji and calmly interjected, "Maybe a Soul Reaper brought him here after he died, and his memories are a little hazy for now." She looked at Renji, who nodded thoughtfully.

"Could be." Renji turned to Liu Hao. "So where are you planning to go now?"

Liu Hao looked at the future Soul Reapers, still so young, and took a deep breath. "I have nowhere to go. Can I... come with you?"

Renji's brows knitted, and he hesitated to agree.

Rukia, however, nodded without hesitation. "Sure. I'm Rukia, and he's Renji Abarai."

Seeing that Rukia had agreed, Renji could only add, "If you come with us, you'll have to help find food. But... it's a little dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Liu Hao asked instinctively, then realized what he meant—in Rukongai, "finding food" often meant stealing.

"Yeah." Renji didn't say it outright. "None of us actually feel hungry, but we still crave food when we see other people eating. We had no choice but to work together." He paused and looked at Liu Hao. "What about you? Hungry? Or thirsty?"

Liu Hao took a moment to assess how he felt. "Thirsty, but not hungry."

"Oh." There was a barely perceptible hint of disappointment in Renji's voice. "Then you might not have any spiritual power. You might just be an ordinary soul."

"Not necessarily," Rukia said. "Maybe it'll take a while before he feels it."

Liu Hao fell silent. He remembered the setting: only souls with spiritual power needed to eat, while ordinary souls could survive on the thin Reishi in their surroundings. The way he felt now seemed to point to the latter.

"Come on, let's head back to where we're staying first." Renji turned and headed for the dilapidated hut.

Rukia smiled at Liu Hao. "That's our 'base.'" With that, she gave him a gentle tug.

There were three more sallow, skinny children inside the hut. When they saw the others return, they merely looked up at them in silence. An oppressive quiet hung over the rundown room.

"Get some rest. We'll go find food in a little while," Rukia said softly, then looked at Liu Hao. "Just follow us and watch this time. You can help next time."

Liu Hao nodded. "Okay."

The group quietly made their way to a relatively orderly neighborhood. Crude shops and scattered stalls lined the street, and the real smell of food drifted through the air—something scarce and precious here.

Renji stopped at the entrance to the street and said quietly to Liu Hao, "Wait here. When you see us run out, run with us." With that, he led the other children into the gaps in the crowd, slipping through like fish.

Liu Hao stood there alone, his heart involuntarily beating faster. Before long, a commotion and angry shouts erupted from the street! Renji and the others came charging out with things tucked under their arms, a burly man roaring as he pursued them relentlessly.

Just as the man was about to catch them, Rukia darted out from behind a stall and stuck out a leg, tripping him! Caught off guard, he fell to the ground in an ungainly heap. Without stopping, Rukia leaped nimbly to her feet and raced after her companions. As she passed Liu Hao, she grabbed him while he was still standing there in a daze and pulled him along!

After a frantic, aimless dash, they ducked into a secluded alley and leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Once Liu Hao recovered, he couldn't help saying, "Actually... you didn't have to pull me along. I didn't take anything, so they might not have bothered me. Bringing me along could have slowed you down instead."

Rukia stared for a moment and scratched her head. "Ah... force of habit. I saw you standing there and just grabbed you."

Renji, who was keeping watch at the mouth of the alley, looked back. "We weren't going straight back to the base. That would give it away. Since you're hiding here with us, we can give you a share too."

"Do you come to an alley like this every time?" Liu Hao asked.

"Of course not. We'd definitely get caught if we used the same place twice." Renji sounded rather pleased with himself.

"Then... when you pick one, do you deliberately choose a dead end like this?" Liu Hao looked at the wall blocking the way ahead, a trace of unease rising in his heart.

Renji froze. "I didn't notice that... Why?"

Liu Hao was just about to speak when he suddenly sensed a faint, malicious fluctuation of spiritual pressure—like the burly man who had been tripped earlier, but there was more than one! They were closing in fast!

"Not good! They're after us! Get out of here! This is a dead end!" he urgently called out in a low voice, already charging toward the mouth of the alley.

He had barely taken two steps when two figures appeared at the entrance, just as he'd feared—the burly man from before and an accomplice carrying a wooden club, both blocking the way with anger written all over their faces!

Liu Hao skidded to a halt and turned back to Renji and the others. "Get out of here! I wasn't there when you took the stuff, so they can't do anything to me! I'll find a way to hold them off!"

With that, he quickly snatched up a half-rotten stick from beside the wall, turned to face their pursuers, and stood with it held across his body.

Renji and the others exchanged looks. Rukia gritted her teeth and grabbed Renji, who was about to rush forward. "Don't get in the way! He knew someone was coming before we did, so he must have a way to deal with them! Come on!"

The children took a long look at Liu Hao, then turned and fled swiftly from the other end.

Liu Hao stood alone in the narrow alley, his stick angled toward the ground, blocking the two burly men's path.

"Get out of the way, brat! Mind your own business!" the man who had been tripped shouted.

"What are you trying to do, chasing a bunch of kids with clubs?" Liu Hao deliberately raised his voice.

"They stole something! Get out of the way if you know what's good for you, or we'll deal with you too!" the other man snarled, gripping his club.

"Stole something? How come I didn't see it? Maybe you got the wrong people?" Liu Hao played dumb.

"Cut the crap! You were one of the brats who ran off just now! Still trying to play dumb?" The man who had been tripped recognized him, and his anger flared even hotter. "Grab this one first, then we'll go after the others!"

The burly man with the club said no more. With a low roar, he swung it at Liu Hao!

Liu Hao's gaze sharpened. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward and swept his stick diagonally upward, deflecting the downward blow. Continuing the motion, he swung the tip toward the man's ribs! Startled, the man hurriedly retreated to dodge.

The other man seized the opening and lunged, trying to grab Liu Hao. Liu Hao lowered his center of gravity and twisted his waist and hips. His stick shot forward like a venomous dragon from its lair, its tip thrusting fiercely with the strength of his whole body behind it!

Thud!

The stick struck the charging man squarely in the chest. The recoil sent Liu Hao himself staggering back several steps. The man, however, cried out as though struck by a crushing blow and flew backward, hitting the ground hard. He curled up, painfully vomited a mouthful of blood, and could no longer get up.

At the sight, the remaining man's vicious expression was instantly replaced by horror. Club raised, he found himself unable to step forward.

Liu Hao steadied himself and held his stick across his chest, breathing slightly hard as he kept his eyes fixed on the man. Only the injured man's pained groans and labored breathing remained in the alley.

In the distance, the faint patter of Rukia and the others' retreating footsteps gradually faded into the murky air of West Seireitei Street.