>>5280435“I was thinking that since I picked last time, why don’t you pick, Shin? Anywhere you know back in the Rukongai that we could go to?” You ask, genuinely curious.
Shin shifts, seeming a little bit uncomfortable. “I mean… yeah, I know a few places, but… why’dya wanna go there? Seireitei’s way nicer.”
“Says you.” You retort, turning away and confusing him.
“Huh?”
“I said, says you. You might think the Seireitei’s nicer, but you’re still not used to it. I’ve never been to the Rukongai, and I wanna see it for myself before I decide whether it’s as bad as everyone says it is. There are bright spots to everything, y’know?”
Shin seems taken aback, evidently having not expected this line of thinking. “W-Well, I guess-“
“Then great!” You interrupt, clapping your hands and spinning on your heel. “Lead the way!”
Shin blinks in disbelief, while Tsukuya giggles beside you. After a moment, he rolls his eyes, before grinning. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you…”
Even if not for the gates that separated the Seireitei and the Rukongai, the difference between the two would have been immediately obvious to anyone travelling between them. The architecture was completely different, with even the Rukongai’s first district having noticeably more archaic and dated buildings than the Seireitei.
This phenomenon only became more and more prominent the further out the three of you travelled, at some point the infrastructure making the full leap from outdated to dilapidated. It surprised you that things were that bad already, considering you weren’t even at Shin’s home district, and he only lived in the 64th.
Shin noticed your surprise, shaking his head. “Told you, didn’t I?” You didn’t have a response, since he was entirely right.
Eventually, after a good few hours, you stopped, in another of the dilapidated districts. You noted the looks the locals were giving you, likely due to your uniforms and zanpakuto. “Here we are.” Shin mutters, almost dejectedly. “Sabitsura.”
And we’ll pause there for now. We’ll start up again tomorrow!
