Bleach: Crysanthemum

The next place the three of them visited was the middle-level Rukongai.

As mentioned before, each district of the Rukongai was separated into each direction of each of the gates. But they also got numbers ȧssigned that indicated the distances from the Seireitei.

For example, 1km away from the walls of the Seireitei meant you were in district 1. From there onward it was district 2 and so forth.

The first 25 districts were the lower-level districts. They received lower numbers not because they were poor but the exact opposite. They were closest to the Seireitei and therefore the richest parts of the Rukongai.

From 25 to 50 one was inside the middle-level districts. Those were the ones they were currently walking in and each of these districts had about 5km of space each to the next district.

There were many agricultural fields here that were running along the river that would lead back to the Seireitei. Weirdly enough there were exactly four rivers flowing out from the Seireitei in each direction.

Someone had some fetish for the number 4 in all the planning of this place for sure.

But thinking about it being clearly manmade so that people could sustain themselves and produce products for the rich inside the Seireitei just showed how much power the ones inside really had.

The presence of Shinigami was rarer here as well but life was still manageable with Hollow activities not happening as frequently as one would think.

At least the Hollow attacks were not as high as in the last 50 districts that spanned over the distance of 500km in each direction before one entered the wildlands.

In the high-level Rukongai that was district 50 to 100, it was a miracle any life at all could sustain itself there. But at the same time, most souls that did so did not have any spiritual pressure on themselves.

Without craving food, there was no real need for it, and the souls(people) there just tended to vegetate from one day to the next without a care in the world.

The criminal activity was also much higher because there was nearly no Shinigami presence there at all. If one saw them there, they were either dead or on a mission. No one would go there on their own accord.

So being in district 39 right now they were rather close to the border to the higher-level districts.

"This really reminds me of our old days.", mentioned Matsuri while she looked around the rather poor houses.

"Yeah, just thinking about it makes me remember how lucky we actually are to have been taken in by lord Seigen.", agreed Fujimaru.

"Hmm, the people also seem to be rather suspicious about us as well...", mentioned Jin and saw how the souls starred at them with sharp glares. "Well, Shinigami don't have the best reputation in the double-digit districts after all."

"We can't even deny their distrust because we know what is going on here.", said Fujimaru with scratching his head. "Look there are even other kids our age running around probably trying to survive somehow."

"You damn brats! Stop right there!!" A rather chubby male soul was running right after two kids that were probably the same age as the three.

It was a black-haired petite girl with violet eyes and a young boy with red spikey hair put into a high ponytail at the back.

When the two ran past them the boy pushed a jar of what seemed to be water into the hands of Matsuri and continued to run off without a word.

The chubby soul stopped right in front of the three.

"So, you are with those other guys, aren't ya. Then it is time for a beating!"

The guy was so enraged that he tried to punch Matsuri but Jin placed a foot right into the guy's face and knocked him over. That he didn't even bother about looking at their uniforms to tell who he was attacking just told stories about his anger.

"Oi, old man. Don't go around trying to attack people.", said Jin with a deadpanned expression and looked at how the guy slowly stood back up.

"But you are damn thieves!!", he rebuked with a shout.

"No, we are not. Anyway, how much does the water cost? We will pay for it."

"Huh? Well, alright...?" The guy was surprised at first. But after looking at the trio's clothing he became somewhat scared and after the three paid for the water, he just left as fast as he came.

"You want to gift it to the two from before?" Matsuri was smiling happily after she had a slight idea of what Jin was about to do with the purchased water.

"Yeah. But we should hurry before we lose those two completely."

It took a little bit of running but later the three finally caught up and saw the two kids arguing with each other.

"Renji! Why did you just give the water to some passerby's!?"

The red-head just scratched the back of his head. "Well, I thought we could get rid of the guy that was chasing after us."

"But you involved people into it! Also, those clothes were from the Shinigami Academy. We are in deep trouble if they start searching for us!"

"Nah, don't worry. I don't think they will find us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that~", said Jin with a bright grin appearing right behind them.

The girl noticing him sooner than the boy and started to escape. "Run, Renji!!" The boy just jolted lightly and started running as well.

But Fujimaru sprinted off with his Hoho and blocked the kid's path ahead.

The red-head called Renji frowned and tried to attack Fujimaru because he thought he could get away with beating someone that bȧrėly looked any older than himself. But that only got his face planted to the ground by Fujimaru's foot just like what Jin did to the chubby guy.

The girl only stayed still in shock and turned around slowly to them with a wry smile.

What made her surprised was that Matsuri gave her the jug of water with a smile on her face. The girl was not sure what to do in that situation and how to react.

"Next time don't cause so much trouble for people, alright?", said Jin from the side.

Jin actually wondered why they even bothered stealing this water if they could get some from the nearby river. Maybe it was specifically just for the container? Who knows. He didn't really bother asking them.

"Uhm, okay?", said the girl back and looked back at her friend who was still lying on the ground.

"You can keep the jar. We already paid for it. And don't worry about your friend there. My brother just hit him lightly." Just as Matsuri said those words Renji was groaning and standing back up.

"I am Matsuri Kudo. This here is Jin Narukami and my brother Fujimaru. And you two are?" Matsuri introduced them.

The friendly atmosphere that Matsuri was radiating somehow got the girl into a daze.

"I am Rukia and that guy is Renji.", she answered wit a smile.

"Nice to meet you two." Jin smiled as well now.

It was really the girl that would end up changing the fate of a certain orange-haired boy. At least it would be his interpretation of it while it was already fated even before his birth.