Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Struggler
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
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Chapter 2: The Struggler
Minutes eventually turned into hours as he had still yet to see any sign let alone semblance of civilization nearby, his stomach continued to twist and turn and his desperation grew worse.
His feet all the way up to his ankles were covered in filth and grime, and his facial expression gradually became more and more lifeless, as if he was starting to let instincts guide his decision-making rather than his own thoughts.
'This feeling…it's like my environment is forcing me to adapt'
At last, he had come across something that forced him to stop in his tracks.
Merely a few feet in front of him, stood a tall, lanky figure with long auburn hair that reached all the way to their shoulders.
The magnitude of dirt that covered his body far surpassed Koda's, not to mention a plethora of visible scars and even fresh wounds scattered throughout their body.
'Strange, his wounds don't seem to be healing - at least not quickly, are our bodies somehow different?' The dirt-ridden individual finally seemed to catch wind of the presence behind him, though his attention didn't seem to be directed at Koda in particular.
Rather, at his sword.
"That's a nice blade…" His voice was deep and grady, his eyelids drooped giving him an almost emotionless demeanor.
"Who are you?" Koda decided it would be worth attempting to get some information, though he didn't have much confidence in getting an answer.
After all, the man seems to radiate an even greater desperation than Koda was experiencing right now.
"Who asks a question like that here? We're all Strugglers at the end of the day…" His gaze gradually became more and more focused on Koda's blade.
"Where am I?" The Struggler could only laugh hysterically in response.
"You're carrying something as fancy as that, yet you don't know where you are? I pity you — truly" Koda could feel the hostility in the atmosphere start to rise.
His instincts caused him to switch from wariness to observation, the Struggler's stance looked sloppy, his eyes were unfocused, and although he talked big — his combat discipline seemed lacking.
"How about this…" The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a short blood-stained dagger from within, lazily fiddling with it as he tossed it from hand to hand.
"You give me that sword of yours, and I'll give you some answers yeah?" The Struggler had a mocking smile on his face as he tried to intimidate Koda.
But rather than fear, an influx of rage started to form within Koda, after all — he was brought face to face with the same weapon that had been responsible for his death.
"Ho! That's a good look in your eyes, maybe you're right where you belong after all!" Koda's brain had drowned out every word, it was simply too preoccupied with formulating a plan to defeat the man that stood in front of him.
'I've never fought against a dagger before…but I have more range than him, and more training, in that case…'
"Guess you won't be accepting my offer…oh well, I'll just have to take it from you!" The struggler charged at Koda in a mad-dash with his dagger grasped firmly in his palms, fully intent on taking his life.
Koda planted both of his feet deep into the mud, using it as an anchor to give him solid footing.
He gripped the hilt of his blade with both his hands and rose it above his head.
Ignorant to the danger he was putting himself in, the Struggler drew closer and closer until…
"Should've surrendered it while you had the chance!"
He was in range.
'...I'll end it in one move'
*Splurt!*
His blade came crashing down, lopping the Struggler's right arm off — effectively disarming him and leaving him disorientated on the ground as blood came gushing out of his shoulder like a river.
'I couldn't do it…I went for his head but…I couldn't follow through' Though Koda was the clear victor, the only thing he could feel was shame.
He was ashamed of his own weakness, even though he had started to understand that the world he had been brought to wasn't a forgiving one, he had failed to prove himself ready for it.
"You…spared me?" The Struggler's voice was weak yet still managed to convey his pure disbelief.
He had just tried to kill Koda, yet his life had been spared — for someone who had lived their whole life in the 80th District, this was an inconceivable concept, there wasn't even an iota of sense in his decision.
That was until the Struggler got a good look at the expression Koda's eyes.
"No, you didn't spare me, you just hesitated to kill me…pathetic" Believe it or not, there was a difference.
"It seems that way…" Koda did nothing but stare at the Struggler as he slowly bled out, a conflicted expression took form as he had no idea how he should proceed.
"You wanted to know where you were right?" Koda's eyes widened in surprise, he had just loped this man's limbs off, and now he was showing signs of cooperation? It didn't make any sense.
"I don't mind giving you answers, but I have a condition" Their gazes met, to which Koda responded with a simple nod.
"You have to kill me after"
"You…want to die?" Koda looked at the Struggler as if he was more mad than he already was.
"Are you being purposefully idiotic? Look at me, my body doesn't have the Reiryoku to deal with this kind of wound, I'd rather a quick and painless death than a slow and drawn out one"
'So I would have killed him in the end regardless, but what's this Reiryoku thing he speaks of?'
"Alright, I'll do it" Koda's voice still sounded uncertain, as his hand that was gripping his blade started to tremble.
"Give me your word" The Struggler stared intensely at him, it was clear he wasn't convinced.
'He'll die by my hand regardless of whether I leave him here or not…' Koda took a deep breath and trembling slowly started to die down, his eyes sparkled with beginnings of a new resolve.
"You have my word" Once the Struggler had deemed Koda trustworthy, he began to speak.
"This is the 80th District, this is a lawless land where only the strong reign — people much worse, and much stronger than me are lying around every corner, kindness will only get you killed, understand?"
"What's that…it almost sounds like you're rooting for me" He'd expect someone who is about to die by his own hand to bear a little more spite for his executioner.
"Heh, if I didn't die by your hand I would've by someone else's — that's how it works here" There wasn't even an ounce of regret in his eyes, he truly meant what he said.
"Listen, the longer you manage to survive here the colder you will become, this is the inevitable truth for everyone in the 80th District, regardless of whether they are weak or strong" The Struggler thought back to his childhood, how in mere moments people he thought he could trust would turn on him even for just a few grains of rice.
"I see…" Koda couldn't imagine a future where he became such a person, but the sheer confidence the man exuded when he spoke sowed doubt within him.
"Don't dread the cold, only through it can you obtain enough power to thrive in a place like this — by the way, I never got your name"
Koda's empty gaze was filled with a slight hint of curiosity as he looked down at his opponent, at first glance he seemed like a clueless thug, but a surprising amount of wisdom seemed to reside in him.
"Koda" On the outside he looked perfectly content as he spoke, but inside he was panicking.
His last name…he couldn't remember his last time.
He knew he had one, but no matter how hard he thought it wouldn't come to him.
How was that possible? How could he forget something like his own name?
"Koda…I see, if your curious the nearest residence is that way, with your power you could probably steal some food from a few lowly thugs"
"Is there no way…to buy some?"
"Buy? Hah! After everything I've told you, you somehow believe a place like this would have something as civilized as an economy? Please…"
"Right…by the way, you mentioned some called Reiryoku, what is that?" The Struggler's eyes widened as he looked at Koda as if he was a complete and utter idiot.
"You don't eve-"
*Cough!*
It was clear that he had a very limited amount of time left, thus he decided to skip the questioning and offer a rushed explanation.
"Whatever I'll be quick, I don't know too much about it, but it's essentially power that resides within beings like us — not everyone has it, and not everyone contains the same amount, only those with it have any need to eat, but in exchange our bodies are much stronger than others"
Koda nodded in satisfaction, and held his blade to the fallen man's chest — finally prepared to grant him a quick and painless end.
"By the way, there's someone that refers to themself as Yachiru that's been racking up bodies like it's no-one's business, rumor has it that the number has reached five digits already, avoid her at all costs Koda"
Koda nodded once more.
'Yachiru…"Eight Thousand Styles"…what an ominous name'
"My name is Tōsō, remember it if you want"
Koda nodded for a third and final time, which was followed by his blade piercing directly into Tōsō's heart, ending his life at last.
'He referred to this place as a district, in that case there must be others — I should try to look for directions out of this one, hopefully the others aren't nearly as harsh as this…'
His gaze hopped back and forth between the corpse and his blade for a while, as he stood there in thought.
'However…how many will I have to slay before I'm freed of this place? Is avoiding bloodshed really not possible?'
Soon he realized it was pointless to contemplate such things, and after rummaging through Tōsō's corpse in hopes of him having food on him, he started heading for civilization.
—
In the outskirts of the 80th District of North Rukongai, a woman with pitch-black hair, donning a similarly colored robe stood there motionless.
Behind her was nothing but hordes and hordes of corpses, piled up like miniature hills and left there to intensify the smell of rot and decay in the atmosphere.
A lone blade hung from the woman's hand, drenched in blood to the point where not even a glimmer of metal could shine from it.
One of her subordinates, ridden with fear, dared to approach her back and despite the woman not moving an inch, her underling felt as if they had been cut hundreds and hundreds of times.
"Y…Yachiru-sama…is something the matter?" Just speaking to her made him feel as if he had signed his own death warrant, as if he was provoking an uncontrollable force that could erase him with just a thought.
"Hm? Does something seem wrong to you?" Though her voice was rather high-pitched and based on sound alone could be deemed almost friendly, each word felt like ice, and each sentence a blizzard.
"N-not at all, Yachiru-sama"
The woman continued to spread her Reiryoku throughout her surroundings, attempting to locate that very faint speck of power she had felt.
'It's no good, they aren't nearly strong enough for me to even sense…oh well' She continued to march forward, cutting down people without a thought as she was consumed by her own curiosity.
'If they become strong enough…we'll meet, eventually'
Her name was Yachiru, the person who was about to become the most notorious criminal in the entirety of Soul Society.
The person Koda had been warned about.
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