Chapter 2: Jūshirō Ukitake
A buff man was hurrying through the forest with his wife by his side, and his son carried in his arms. His son's lips were stained with blood, and coughing echoed throughout the forest. The man and his wife were extremely worried. It didn't look like their son had much longer to live, and the shrine was their last chance, but they had gotten lost in the forest.
"Stop" The son forced out amidst the coughing. The parents immediately stopped.
"What is it, Jūshirō?" The mom asked frantically.
"There is a young child over there. Please help him."
The mom debated internally about what she should do, but her nature as a kind person made her go check on the child. She knelt down by the child and realized he was just sleeping. She quickly shook him awake.
The child muttered, "I'm still here? Even after I fell asleep?"
The mom was confused about the child's words, but there was something more urgent.
"Excuse me, do you know where the shrine is?"
"The shrine to the guardian deity?"
"Thank goodness," the mother sighed with relief, "can you please bring us to it? We're part of the Ukitake family, and you'll be handsomely rewarded if you help us."
Takashi agreed to show them the way, but his mind was churning at rapid speeds while he was moving.
'If they're the Ukitake family, then the child must be Jūshirō Ukitake. He does have silver hair and what looks to be lung disease, so that makes sense. The hand in the shrine must be Mimihagi. I'm still here even after I fell asleep. Is this not a dream? Is this the Bleach universe? Have I transmigrated? Forget it. Right now, I need to save Jūshirō Ukitake. I wasn't originally part of this universe, so wouldn't he have been saved without me? Maybe I changed something. I don't know the answers to any of these questions.'
Takashi was so distracted by these thoughts that he nearly walked into a tree. Thankfully, the mom called out to him and broke him out of his reverie before Takashi smashed his face.
"How much longer until we get there?" The dad asked with great urgency.
Takashi responded, "We're nearly there."
A few minutes later, they entered a clearing with a shrine in the middle. The parents immediately ran into the shrine and started praying. Soon after, the statue expanded and turned into a massive hand. The hand stretched out and wrapped around Jūshirō Ukitake. It started fading, until the hand was completely gone. They all waited in silence to see if it was successful, and breaking that silence was a lone cough.
"Jūshirō!!" The parents ran to hug Jūshirō Ukitake with tears streaming down their faces. Takashi felt a bit embarrassed about watching, so he closed his eyes, but with that action, sleep instantaneously took over, and Takashi fell forward, creating a thump sound when he hit the floor. The family hug quickly broke up so that they could see what had happened to their benefactor.
The mom checked his body and announced, "He's only sleeping."
The dad thought for a bit, then said, "When we first met him, he was asleep, and now, he's asleep again. Perhaps he has some sleeping problem. Let's bring him with us. We must repay him for saving Jūshirō. Jūshirō, can you walk by yourself?"
Jūshirō nodded and got up by himself. The dad slung Takashi over his shoulder, and they returned to the Ukitake house, situated in Sakahone, the 76th district of East Rukongai. Even though they lived in a very high-numbered district, the Ukitake's were a low-class aristocratic family, so they had quite a respectable house.
When they arrived home, with Takashi still sleeping, the servants opened the doors, and two young boys rushed out. They bombarded their brother and parents with questions. They were still too young to understand exactly what was happening, but they understood that something bad had happened, and that was what they wished to know.
"Dad, what happened? Is big brother going to be ok?"
The dad stretched out his free hand, and ruffled his children's hair. "Don't worry. Everyone's fine. We just went on a trip to pray to a god."
"Who is the person on your shoulder?" One child asked.
"This is just a good person we met on the way. He helped us with our journey. Now, now, daddy will tell you the story later. Let me give this person a bed."
When Takashi woke up, he was lying on a bed. He was confused for a moment, before he remembered everything that had happened yesterday.
'Am I really in the world of Bleach? That should be impossible. But then what could explain it? Is it just a dream? Maybe the dream was influenced by Bleach. But did I even know about the shrine and Mimihagi? The dream could have pulled it from the back of my subconscious. Should I kill myself? But if this is the real world, then that would be bad. Let's assume I'm in the real world for now, until I find something that disproves that theory. If this is Bleach, then now should be way before canon starts. I should try to keep canon the same, so that Ichigo can defeat Yhwach. I should also become stronger, so that I won't suddenly be killed off. Why am I still falling asleep at inopportune times. Could it be because my body is so accustomed to this sleep schedule that my biological clock stayed the same even after I was transported to this world? I need to find a solution quickly, because if I fall asleep during battle, I'm doomed. I should be in Rukongai, but I can't remember exactly what district Jūshirō Ukitake lived in. He will become a Shinigami, so I should just follow behind him. This is way before canon, so I can't use my knowledge just yet. The only important people here are Yamamoto, Unohana, Kyōraku, and Jūshirō Ukitake. I should have a good relationship with all of them, while staying low-key so as to not disturb the canon.'
With his future plans decided, Takashi opened the door and found a servant outside.
"Please follow me. The master ordered me to bring you to him when you awoke."
Takashi followed the servant while thinking of reasons why the head of the Ukitake family would want to meet him.
'Perhaps he wants to thank me? If he starts asking questions, I'll try to answer as truthfully as I can. I need to gain the trust of Jūshirō Ukitake.'
The house wasn't overly big, so they quickly arrived at an imposing door. The servant knocked, and the door was opened by two servants. Inside was Jūshirō Ukitake as well as his father.
"Please take a seat." The father gestured towards an empty chair. Takashi sat down. This chair was opposite the father's chair, with a table and a bowl of fruit being the only things separating the two, while Jūshirō Ukitake was sitting adjacent to Takashi. Takashi felt a lot of pressure, but sitting next to Jūshirō Ukitake helped relieve some of that pressure.
"What's your name, boy?" The father said brusquely.
"Takashi Ueno"
"Well, Takashi Ueno, we need to talk"
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